Borough keeps an eye on rivers

MAT-SU — Don’t be alarmed, but do be aware as the Mat-Su Borough is again monitoring rivers this weekend.

Homeowners in Butte, Willow, Wasilla and Talkeetna are still recovering from floods that caused damage along every major stream and river in the borough last month.

The waters started receding Sept. 22 and, despite sporadic rain, haven’t shown signs of rising again. That is, not until steady rains and snowmelt on the mountains began plaguing the borough Thursday.

“We’re going to be watching the water levels again this weekend with the rain that’s here and the snowmelt that’s occurring,” said Casey Cook, the borough’s emergency manager, Thursday afternoon. “All of the rivers are below flood stage but they are trending upward a bit.”

He said the public can help.

Cook said if people notice water levels rising on smaller creeks, to call the borough so staff have as much notice as possible about new potential flooding.

It’s mostly the small creeks the borough is worried about, Cook said, since bigger creeks and rivers have gauges on them.

He said folks can call 911 if they feel like it is an emergency, or isn’t during business hours. But during business hours Friday people should call 373-8800.

Meanwhile, the flood recovery is proceeding apace. Cook said that as of Thursday afternoon people had already made use of the disaster assistance center in Butte.

“When I talked to the guys at the state about an hour ago, eight people had come in and applied for the program in Butte, but they were expecting more after people got off work and were back in the area,” Cook said.

Federal inspectors should be out this week to look at public infrastructure damaged in the flooding. That’s part of the federal disaster program.

“They’ll come out and do an assessment and compile their numbers and then submit it to the regional administrators,” Cook said. “If it fits for (the Federal Emergency Management Administration) then he sends it to the president and the president makes the decision on whether to sign it or not.”

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.