BISMARCK (AP) -- Gov. John Hoeven has activated 20 National Guard soldiers to help with cleanup after the Easter weekend snowstorm that knocked out power to thousands.
The storm knocked down more than 12,000 power poles and hundreds of miles of electrical lines. State Homeland Security Director Greg Wilz says the "debris field" is significant, and farmers want to get in the fields and ranchers want to get their cows to pasture.
Wilz estimates there is enough debris to fill more than 1,000 truckloads.
President Barack Obama on Wednesday issued a disaster declaration for 12 counties and the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation, paving the way for federal aid to help with the cost of infrastructure repairs.
