Butte to get flood update

BUTTE — Mat-Su Borough officials plan to give an update of where they are with flood recovery at Wednesday’s Butte Community Council meeting.

The meeting is slated for 7 p.m. at the Butte Community Hall.

“I’m just going there to give them an update of what’s going on,” said the borough’s emergency manager, Casey Cook.

And what is that exactly?

“We’re still just waiting to hear if the president is going to sign a federal declaration or not,” he said. “They have until the 20th to get their individual assistance grant applications in.”

The president’s decision whether to sign a disaster declaration for the September floods — in which every major river in the borough and several creeks and streams were above flood stage, 823 buildings damaged and 14 destroyed — is based on the damage done to public infrastructure. Help for individuals can be added on later.

“All I’ve heard is that it’s already been sent to FEMA and the president so they’re just waiting to hear back from that.

Applications for help are with the state government rather than the federal government. To apply, call (855) 445-7131.

Cook said that Mat-Su Borough Mayor Larry DeVilbiss also will be at Wednesday’s meeting.

“DeVilbiss is going to talk about the dredging idea,” Cook said, referencing statements made at previous Butte meetings that a lot of the sever erosion in Butte could have been avoided if the state would just dredge and thereby channelize the Matanuska River.