Disaster response shifts to clean up, for now

PALMER — As waters receded Monday, borough and state officials were guardedly optimistic that the worst of the flooding was over.

The main trouble spots including Wasilla and Willow creeks and the Matanuska, Little Susitna and Talkeetna rivers had crested as of the afternoon and were receding.

The Knik River and Little Susitna River were not receding but also not rising either, said Casey Cook, the Mat-Su Borough’s emergency manager just after 3 p.m. The Skwentna River hadn’t crested as of Monday morning.

But rain was expected to return Tuesday.

“With this new weather system, since we’re already set up, we’re ramped up and ready to do this again if we have to,” Cook said. “The hope is we won’t have to, but we are prepared to do that.”

The National Weather Service predicted the rain would not cause flooding to resume. By Monday, the American Red Cross of Alaska had closed all but its Willow shelter, but stood ready to re-open the Wasilla and Sunshine shelters if needed.

Recovery mode

If the weather service prediction holds, for now and for many weeks and months to come the borough will be in clean-up and recovery mode.

“The recovery process involves state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management coming out and getting together with the borough’s public works department. We’ll start taking assessments of the damage that’s been done, documenting it, putting financial numbers to that and also measuring roads and how much washout we’ve had,” Cook said.

Judging by photos posted to the borough’s Facebook page, that assessment will likely include more than one bridge that needs to be repaired, if not replaced and numerous road with chunks missing — some chunks wider than others.

The state is likewise conducting a damage assessment and simultaneously bracing for the worst, said state Department of Transportation spokesman Rick Feller.

“With the forecast predicting more rain we are in the mode of assessing damage, doing what we can to shore up any visible damage, remove any obstructions that we have and trying to clean up and fix what’s been undone so far by the storms,” he said. “But also, more importantly, to ready ourselves for the storms that are predicted to come.”

On the Glenn Highway, he said, there were numerous rockslides.

“We had so much rock fall along the Glenn that we have all of our containment ditches basically filled up with rocks that had fallen onto the highway,” Feller said. “We are looking for disposal sites for that rock.”

On the Parks Highway, he said, multiple bridges had been threatened during the flood, none worse than the Willow Creek Bridge. None were washed out. But part of damage assessment is watching the bridges as the water recedes to see if lower levels reveal any hidden damage.

Various culverts also need clearing. Crews are busy doing that now.

Help for homeowners

Cook said state officials also would review personal property caused by the flood event.

“The state will also be coming out with their individual assistance folks to see what kind of damage was done to homes,” he said.

To make sure you get the proper amount of assistance if it is offered and if you qualify, the borough recommends photographing everything, Cook said.

“What people should do is document what their home looks like before they start repairing it and then once they find stuff that’s been damaged or broken or unusable to document that throughout the repair,” he said. “Keep all of their receipts that they’ve spent on Sheetrock or sump pumps or anything that they’ve used or bought, purchased rented to make their homes livable again.”

The state and possibly federal government will be looking for that money when it goes to document the disaster.

Officially a disaster

The state has declared a disaster, which unlocks the state’s disaster fund for use in both the Mat-Su and Kenai Peninsula.

“While the full extent of the damage remains unknown, it is apparent that the high winds and severe flooding will leave communities in need of state assistance to recover,” Gov. Sean Parnell said in declaring the disaster.

In addition to unlocking the funds, the declaration unlocks staff. A state team is currently helping run the borough’s Emergency Operations Center and will continue helping with things like conducting meetings and gathering and formatting documentation.

Once the state has a good read on just how much damage it’s looking at, it will decide whether it has reached the threshold needed before Alaska can ask the federal government for a disaster declaration.

A federal declaration would — just like its state and local counterparts — unlock emergency funding and resources for use here.

Repairs already under way

Perhaps some of the most dramatic photos from the flood were of the Alaska Railroad, which lost a sizeable segment of embankment just south of Gold Creek. The water there — 35 miles north of Talkeetna — eroded the ground beneath the tracks and left them floating in the air, ties dangling from the rails, for 500 feet.

On Monday, the railroad announced repairs were ahead of schedule and it might be able to resume freight and passenger service north of Wasilla as early as Tuesday.

“Thirty-five railroad crew members are working double-shifts around-the-clock to rebuild the track bed using large rocks and fill material hauled in from both sides of the site. Equipment involves bulldozers, excavators, and two work trains,” according to a railroad press release.

Meetings planned

As of press time, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly was scheduled to hold an emergency meeting at station 6-1 in downtown Wasilla at 6 p.m. to decide whether to extend the emergency declaration.

State and borough officials will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m., Tuesday at Talkeetna Elementary.

Borough spokeswoman Vickielee Fenster said the state will use the meeting as a way to train borough people on how to conduct them. The state folks picked Talkeetna because it seemed the hardest hit, with half the town evacuated Friday during the flooding.

“We’re going to send some people along to observe from the borough and probably then schedule some other meetings in other communities,” Fenster said.

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