MPR’s Leif Enger reports on Federal Emergency Management teams fanning out across northeasten Minnesota, gathering information to build a case for federal aid to communities in the BWCA area.

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(00:00:00) FEMA officials say damage to private homes is often the hardest to see unlike millions of trees in a Wilderness Area. It's invisible from the air. Sometimes it's nearly invisible. Even from the ground investigator. Robert Buttowski circles a yellow two-story house on a maple shaded Street in Virginia seeking Clues
(00:00:19) see where the water has. Has dropped your foundation you can look straight ahead and see where it dropped a good inch and a half that corner. Yes, that could be a very serious and if you noticed that wall bowing inward the ground is pushing her foundation in
(00:00:36) word madoski is on one of 10 Crews now canvassing most of Northeastern Minnesota. Three of the crews are investigating private property damage 7 damage to public property roads and bridges they're working from lists and tips compiled by local. It's and the Red Cross here in Virginia. You can tell whose basements got filled by who gets a visit from the Sears truck driven today by Fred
(00:01:00) a lot of basement things, like water heaters
(00:01:03) sump pumps
(00:01:05) shop-vacs anything to get their basements, you know dry
(00:01:09) Fred is bringing Mildred Anderson a new washer Mildred had a nice basement Cedar tongue-and-groove paneling comfortable Furniture. We had about 12 to 14 inches of dirty sewer. Water in our basement that dark icky Brown kind many of the homes on Mildred Street had similar damage their owners. Hope there will be a presidential disaster declaration to help them cover expenses. But that's far from certain. Virginia was also hit hard downtown all three of the district school building sustained serious water damage and several businesses had to shut down ceiling fans run full speed in the basement of Rocco's Italian restaurant. This was the form. Dining area now a soggy dungeon of tipped over Furniture shocked ficus trees and climbing around its golden cage a green parrot with an ill-timed. Laughs Rocco's owner Doug foshee estimates physical damage to the restaurant at $50,000 the FEMA Crews. Hope to finish surveying storm damage by the end of Thursday and to report their findings to Governor Ventura Friday or Monday should President Clinton decide not to do. Declared a disaster area and investigator for the federal small business administration said there's more than enough damage for the SBA to offer relief in the form of special low-interest loans. Laughs anger, Minnesota Public Radio.