Hammond, Pine Island, Oronoco, Zumbro Falls recovery...

Here are some upcoming flood-recovery sessions in the region, for those still in the painstaking process of recovering from the floods of September, 2010.

•. 6 p.m. Monday, November 1, 2010 at the Mazeppa Community Center, 121 Maple Street N.e. in Mazeppa, Minnesota — a community meeting "regarding the rebuilding concerns which arose during the Disaster Recovery Center Operations in Mazeppa." The meeting is intended especially for people from Hammond, Pine Island, Oronoco and Zumbro Falls, says an announcement.

• The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs offers flood relief grants for reimbursable expenses to Veterans, spouses and widows/widowers of veterans up to $750 per household "if they have not received FEMA or other assistance for the amount applied for." Thirty-five counties are covered by the program, says an announcement. Contact Goodhue County Veterans Service Office, or your local county Veterans Service Office. The one in Goodhue County is at the government center,  room 101, 509 West 5th Street, Red Wing 55066-2540, or call 651-385-3256. IMPORTANT: The original receipts must be presented (to be copied). Reimbursable items include appliances, flood-related building materials, cleaning supplies, flooring, food, plastic, plumbing supplies, rental costs for generators, water pumps, sump pumps, Bobcats, backhoes, sand, sandbags, sheetrock, window treatments and shelter costs if displaced by the flood. 

Pulse on Health
By Jeff Hansel, member Association of Health Care Journalists
Health Reporter for the Post-Bulletin newspaper, 18 1st Ave. S.E. in Rochester, Minnesota 55904 
Twitter Hansel's Pulse: @Jeff Hansel