Flood woes

Dec. 15, 2006

By Michael Rovito

Frontiersman

WILLOW - The smell of propane in Jerry Greschke's trailer hits like a ton of bricks. A thick blanket serves as a second door into the trailer, providing as much defense against the cold as possible. Inside, the cramped quarters barely allows three people to move around freely.

This is Greschke's home. Ever since floodwaters ravaged parts of the Mat-Su Valley this past August, Greschke and his two neighbors have been living in a state of financial limbo, awaiting some kind of assistance to help make ends meet.

Greschke's situation is testament to how much the flood affected residents of parts of the Susitna Valley. It also shows what happens when immediate help pulls out and post-disaster relief is limited.

With sinkholes in his yard and neighbors living in similar conditions, Greschke, who is on a fixed retirement income of $482 a month and walks with a cane, is just one of many area

residents still reeling from floodwaters that rose so fast some were sent scrambling for safety in the wee hours of the morning.

The night of the flood is locked in Greschke's memory: looking out the door one hour, then the next hour, only to see the water had risen by feet.

Inside the cramped quarters of his trailer - roughly the size of an SUV - Greschke pointed out the highwater mark just inches below his ceiling, then gestured toward his now inoperable heater.

&#8220You could turn that up full blast and lean against it and it would be cool,” Greschke said.

He opened the back of a washed-out conversion van, revealing piles of equipment he used to use to fix his elderly neighbor's cars for free. Now, it is all ruined, and Greschke's good-natured service has come to an abrupt end.

Greschke's neighbor, Jim Morefield, who lives in a travel camper next door, said cash is what they need to make ends meet after spending so much of their meager funds on repairs.

One of the largest problems, according to both men, is not that local creeks and rivers have been within their banks these last few months, but that volunteers and donations have largely stopped. As the holidays approach, Greschke, Morefield and the third neighbor, Nancy Ordway, who uses a walker to get around, spend many sleepless nights just trying to stay warm.

&#8220I know what Katrina victims went through now,” Greschke said, identifying with thousands of New Orleans residents who were left with next to nothing after last year's massive hurricane and flooding that followed.

And Greschke puts a lot of the blame on the borough for the scope of flooding that took place around his home. Blaming beaver dams, Greschke said he doesn't think the water would have reached the level it did if the borough had removed all the dams he said he pointed out to borough officials.

A phone message to the borough's road maintenance office was not immediately returned.

The problem, according to Sally Letherman, the borough's volunteer coordinator, is the temporary nature of assistance during the flood. The Red Cross, which set up emergency shelters in the area, doesn't have the ability to provide long-term assistance, and state money is often slow to arrive.

Couple that with three federal disasters in Alaska at roughly the same time, and some relief has taken longer than expected from the state.

Jaime Littrell, the public information officer at the state division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said the abundance of requests for financial relief has overwhelmed the small staff.

Littrell cited the Interior's spring floods during breakup, August's Valley flood and the Hooper Bay fire that destroyed that town's school and many homes. Also, Littrell said, a fourth disaster - resulting from the October storm that flooded parts of Seward and Valdez - has added to the pile of work.

Another aspect Letherman said could be seen as a hindrance for disaster relief is the $5,000 limit for individuals and families seeking assistance. Citing inflation, Letherman said it has become difficult for some residents to recover on that amount.

&#8220We understand that $5,000 isn't a lot,” Littrell said. &#8220But we're kind of handcuffed by what's in our statute.”

For those still trying to recover, it means more waiting, and more wondering where the money will come from so they can attempt to put their lives back together.

&#8220This thing caught us with our pants down,” Greschke's neighbor, Morefield, said.

Contact Michael Rovito at

352-2252 or michael.rovito@

frontiersman.com.