Otter requests disaster aid for North Idaho
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 13 years, 8 months AGO
<p>Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter shakes hands with supporters, including state schools superintendent Tom Luna, left, after signing into law the third piece of the "Students Come First" education reform legislation April 8 at the Statehouse in Boise.</p>
LEWISTON (AP) - Idaho Gov. Butch Otter has requested more than $5 million in federal money for six North Idaho counties to pay for fixing roads damaged by flooding and landslides that occurred the first several weeks of April.
Otter made the request Friday to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for damage in Boundary, Bonner, Shoshone, Clearwater, Nez Perce and Idaho counties.
The federal agency has 30 days to make a recommendation on Otter's request to President Barack Obama, who will decide whether to issue a major disaster declaration for the area.
Officials said the damage in North Idaho includes more than 50,000 cubic yards of debris that covered two sections of Dent Bridge Road north of Orofino when a hillside gave way. A temporary road has been built around the landslide.
"But it's only a temporary solution and that's why we must continue to seek funding," Don Gardner, Clearwater County emergency management coordinator, told the Lewiston Tribune.
Another road having problems is the Grangemont Road between Orofino and Pierce, Gardner said, noting it has flood damage and is slowly sliding. The road is still being used, but signs warn motorists to be alert.
"There are very large cracks over a very large area and unfortunately we can't see what is causing it," Gardner said.
In Idaho County, part of Cove Road about six miles east of Grangeville has collapsed due to a landslide.
"That whole hillside is not all that stable," said Jerry Zumalt, disaster management coordinator for the county. "We don't know how far down in there we're going to have to excavate and try to tie in to something solid."
Officials in both Idaho and Clearwater counties say there is about $2 million in damage in each county, though it could be more. Additional testing is planned in various areas to find out what repairs are needed.
"It's a conundrum and I'm hopeful, if FEMA accepts this request, that they will agree with us," Zumalt said. "But they might not and if they don't, I don't know that we can afford (the cost of repairs) where we think we have a serious problem now."
