Counties confident in FEMA aid for flood damage

Counties are still working to address damage caused by this year’s flooding as they finish necessary documentation for the government to declare a federal disaster.

Last week, Gov. Greg Gianforte declared a disaster due to flooding that occurred the previous month, opening up assistance from the state and the possibility of a federal disaster declaration.

Following heavy snow this winter through March — including a likely new record for December snowfall in Havre — and temperatures staying relatively cold through the start of April, a large upswing in temperatures the second week of April led to rapid melting and runoff, leading to some major flooding.

Roads were covered in water and damaged in a wide area, along with other damage caused.

In the wake of the damage, Gianforte declared disasters in Hill, Liberty and Blaine counties and Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, along with Meagher, Valley, Daniels and Park counties, the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and the towns of Glasgow and Nashua.

The state disaster declaration authorizes the governor to expend funds from the general fund to meet contingencies and needs arising from these conditions, but local and state officials are hoping that President Joe Biden will declare a federal emergency, allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to take point on the projects.

Hill County DES Coordinator Amanda Frickel said the county is still in the process of documenting the damage and sending the data to the federal government in preparation for a declaration, one she is fairly confident will happen.

Frickel said, even though they are still assessing the full extent of the damage and what it will take to address it, it’s already clear that the county cannot possibly cover the cost of repairs, and given how vital many of the damaged areas are, she’s 70 percent sure that FEMA will be able to help them.

She said the county has identified five large projects that collectively require a massive investment to address and, based on what she knows, FEMA is unlikely to disagree with their evaluation.

“It’s very unlikely that FEMA would find our priority list to be out of line with their priority list,” she said.

The biggest projects are the North Inverness Bridge 290 Kennedy Coulee, North Inverness 9 Mile Bridge North, North Inverness 15 North Bridge, North Inverness Culverts 80 North, Road 50 South Culverts-W, Road 50 South Culverts-E, Gildford Emergency Route, 335 Road South, West Fork Road Culvert, Kremlin Road South, 110 North Havre, Fresno Road South 365.

She said there are also numerous culverts across the ares north and south of U.S. Highway 2 that need to be addressed.

Frickel said the numbers they are coming up with are estimates and FEMA engineers would need to take a closer look, but every project they’ve identified is eligible for state funding and almost certainly eligible for federal funding as well.

She said even if FEMA cannot cover all the repairs, the state should be able to help make up the difference, which she anticipates will be small.

Blaine County seems similarly optimistic, with Commissioner Shane Fox saying their collective price tag is already estimated at $600,000.

“We’re confident we’ll be covered by FEMA,” he said.

Fox said Blaine County is doing all it can to address as much of the damage as possible, but they will still need help to address all the washed out roads and culverts.

He said FEMA personnel should be coming next week to start their own evaluations.

As for Hill County, Fickle said their biggest project is the Kennedy Coulee, which was all but destroyed.

She said of all the areas of Hill County the one that got hit the hardest in terms of roads was definitely around Inverness, which has seen a lot of areas completely washed out.

She said many of the roads see a lot of equipment moved through them and are now impassable, so when work begins, that is where much of their efforts will be concentrated early on.

There are currently still many roads still closed from the flooding.

In Inverness Road 70 North to 100 North, 15 North from 60 North to North 100 and 80 North of Inverness are all closed, as is 115 South, mile marker 16-30 in Rudyard.

A release from Frickel said there is no timetable for reopening these roads at this point.

55 South and 65 North road between roads 180-190 are passable but drivers must be cautious.

In Kremlin, 80 West Kremlin South is also open to cautious drivers, as is 50 South to 405 South Fresno, though drivers are advised not to move heavy equipment across it.

In North Havre, West Fork Road is open but drivers are advised to use extreme caution and Cottonwood Bridge is off limits to heavy machinery.

Blaine County doesn’t have any road closures due to flooding at the moment and Liberty County had not returned requests for comment by print deadline this morning.

Even with all that destruction, Frickel said, Hill County was relatively lucky overall, and there have been other areas hit much worse.

She said Glasgow, Hinsdale and areas of the Crow Reservation saw many families displaced by the flooding.

Frickel said she understands how many people are being affected by this flooding and wants to encourage people to keep reporting areas they have trouble in, but the Hill County Road Department and the county at large is working hard to get all of its documentation done, so even if they aren’t out there working on it right now, they are working.

She said the road department has 15 people to cover almost 2,000 miles of roads, which is a tall order given the amount of damage, and the people at the department are working overtime.

She said she will try to keep the community updated on road work and closures as much as possible.