Pursuit continues for disaster declaration

WORLAND — Things are looking favorable for Washakie County to get its first federal disaster declaration, according to Washakie County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Jeff Schweighart.

Schweighart said following a meeting Tuesday with the Washakie County Commissioners, City of Worland officials, Wyoming Office of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency officials “it sounds favorable and positive” that Washakie County would be included in the federal disaster declaration for snowmelt runoff flooding that occurred in July.

According to the White House press release issued Aug. 7, “President Donald J. Trump declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Wyoming and ordered federal assistance to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by flooding from June 7 to June 22, 2017. Federal funding is available to State, tribal, and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the flooding in the counties of Fremont and Park and the Wind River Reservation within Fremont County.”

For Washakie County, a local disaster declaration was signed on June 30 by Schweighart, commissioners and Worland Mayor Jim Gill. While the federal declaration was for June 7-22, the local declaration was from flooding that occurred from snowmelt runoff that began in April and continued into July.

The declaration states that “extensive damage has been caused to public and private property, disruption of utility service, and endangerment of health and safety of the residents of Washakie County within the disaster area, all locally available public and private resources available to mitigate and alleviate the effects of this disaster have been insufficient to meet the needs of the situation, the current conditions around the County and the City may continue to produce significant flooding with the possibility of continued rain, late season snow melt, along with progressive runoff could potentially present flood conditions to include mudslides and landslides in the County.”

“The main focus is on damage due to runoff,” said Schweighart in an earlier interview, noting that the county had to provide security gates at the Nowater Creek crossing, and replace a culvert between Ten Sleep and Worland on the old highway.

The damage estimates from runoff events prior to the declaration were around $33,000, he said.

He said other damages that could be included in the disaster declaration assistance program are repairing the berm downstream of the confluence of 15 Mile Creek and the Big Horn River, as well as repair work and protection work the city has had to make on the sewer line that was under the river after the bank eroded too much to uncover the line.

Melinda Gibson, state hazard mitigation officer for the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, emphasized at the meeting that Washakie County was not part of the original federal declaration. She said the process includes a preliminary damage assessment, which has not been completed for Washakie County.

The Wyoming OHS and FEMA officials did take a tour of the berm damage while they were here Tuesday, but Gibson said that did not qualify as the assessment.

Following an assessment declaration comes the application briefing, which she noted Washakie County was actually accomplishing with the meeting Tuesday.

Those eligible under the public assistance process are counties and incorporated municipalities, other legally constituted units of local government, state government agencies and departments, Indian/tribes or authorized tribal organizations and certain essential private non-profits including special tax districts such as irrigation districts.

She said basic requirements for eligibility include that the damage has been caused by the disaster and damage is in the declared area.

“Individual homeowners, this is not something that’s going to work for you,” Gibson said, addressing a few homeowners who attended the public meeting Tuesday afternoon in the commissioners meeting room.

Gibson noted that if a declaration is made for Washakie County that “is not a guarantee of assistance funding.”

Prior to taking the tour of the damaged areas, Gibson and FEMA officials continued to outline the entire process for assistance, once a declaration is made.

During an interview Thursday, Gibson said the preliminary damage assessment must be completed.

“We’re in conversations with FEMA to determine the next step,” Gibson said. “Ultimately, we want to make sure Washakie County is in a good spot, or as good a spot as we can get them.”

She said they are hoping to have a decision on a declaration by Sept. 4.