Local folks show resilience in face of repeat disasters

If the events of the last month in south Lincoln County have proven nothing else, it’s the resilience and can-do attitude of its residents.

A month ago, the news of a mercury poisoning was the first salvo in a series of events that threatened the health and safety of folks in Libby, Troy and the surrounding communities.

Then came an unprecedented barrage of rain that caused wide-spread flooding and damage that will cost millions of dollars to repair. Topping it off was a weather event of hurricane force winds last week that left tens of thousands of people without power, damage to their homes and thousands of downed trees.

Despite the repeated, tragic events, locals didn’t waste time, jumping in to help where they could.

Financial support for the family poisoned by mercury poured in as well as a place to live while they wait for a new residence. They are experiencing a loss of wages, the loss of many personal items, including Christmas presents, and also have expenses for their medical treatments.

A gofundme was launched to support the family and it can be found at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-jareds-family-after-mercury-poisoning, organized by Jared White.

A few weeks later, the flooding washed out bridges and roads. But area first responders and private citizens got busy marking unsafe areas, placing sand bags to save the property of their families and neighbors and minimize damage.

Local contractors Noble Contracting and Thompson Contracting worked to build a levee next to Rosauers, riprap preventing further stream bank erosion at various locations and road improvement where it was needed.

Troy City officials and the Lincoln County Commissioners sought and got the help of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help fix St. Regis Road and extend levies along Callahan Creek between the bridge and trestle bridge.

Last week’s wind event brought a new round of obstacles to overcome with power outages nearly a week.

While local power companies such as Flathead Electric, Troy Power and Northern Lights worked feverishly, and with little sleep, neighbors jumped in to help each other remove trees that fell in their yards and damaged their homes. In addition, Spokane Valley’s Modern Electric Water Company jumped in to provide mutual aid when Northern Lights sought help.

Cohenour Family Trucking hosted the second annual Christmas parade in Libby Saturday that was attended by locals and lifted everyone’s spirits.

Buoyed by the arrival of Montanans from other parts of the state as well as federal assistance, local folks kept grinding away with the goal of bringing a degree of normalcy back in time for the holidays.

The American Red Cross of Montana’s arrival was led by a former Troy resident, Shellie Creveling, District Program manager. Her family left Troy after the close of the mine. The Red Cross shelter has been set up in the Memorial Events center in Libby after a brief stay in the Assembly of God church.

“We had one older gentleman come and stay for a few nights after he heard a rumor that U.S. 2 was closed, but most of our work has involved serving lunch, dinner, snacks and thousands of cases of water,” Creveling said. “It’s been very beneficial for folks to come in and share their stories of what’s happening and that has allowed them to have a better sense of security. We’ve also been able to connect folks to services and it’s a comfort to them.”

Creveling also shared the good news that Libby now has a response team of seven new volunteers.

“Before all of this, we had one volunteer in Eureka and three in Trego, so we’re very excited to have that back again here,” Creveling said.

Matt Ochsner. communications director for Montana Red Cross based in Great Falls, spent several days in Libby last week.

“Our hearts go out to the folks in Lincoln County that have been through so much, but we’ve seen the kindness and generosity from volunteers, churches, businesses and neighbors helping neighbors, which is really what it’s about,” Ochsner said. “The Memorial Events Center has been a great place for us to be and help the community. People have been able to come in and charge their phones, share their experiences and we’ve been able to help them find services as they need them.”

Ochsner also shared a remarkable story of locals donating blood last Thursday.

“The Libby VFW hosted a blood drive and we collected 61 units of live-saving blood,” Ochsner said. “It’s a tough time to collect blood, so it was awesome to see Libby step up and donate blood.”

Ochsner also shared his appreciation for Red Cross volunteers.

“Ninety percent of our work force are volunteers, so we’re grateful for them,” he said.

Late last week, the Red Cross also accepted two semi-truck loads of bottled water, nearly 77,000 bottles.

Donations came from many places, too. The Red Cross shared its appreciation last week in a Facebook post, thanking “Albertsons, Coca-Cola, the Memorial Events Center, Evergreen and Sandman motels, Sysco, Assembly of God Church, Montana Nurses Association, BearDance Forestry, Big Fork Lawn and Fence, VFW, Country Inn, United Methodist Church, Rosauers, the Pastime Bar, Cyrus Lee of Bears ’n Stuff, government and emergency officials and the countless others who offered support, supplies, shelter, time and a warm hug.”

Red Cross continues to distribute water from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Memorial Center.