Biden approves North Dakota disaster aid after October 2024 wildfires and wind damage

President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for North Dakota on December 24, 2024, after wildfires and straight-line winds damaged McKenzie and Williams Counties on October 5–6, 2024. The declaration made federal public-assistance funding available to state, tribal, and local governments, plus certain private nonprofits, for emergency work and repair or replacement of damaged facilities. It also made hazard-mitigation funding available statewide. The action mattered because the fires had killed one person, forced evacuations, burned large areas of western North Dakota, and left local governments facing recovery costs that exceeded what state and local systems could easily absorb alone.