Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced Monday that federal disaster assistance has been made available to the state of Wyoming to supplement state, tribal, and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the flooding from June 7-22, 2017.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

For Washakie County, assistance will be available to address damage caused by snowmelt runoff erosion to the banks of the Big Horn River, but not flood damage caused by February ice jams along the river.

“From April until June Washakie County was in alert status,” said Washakie County Homeland Security & Emergency Management Coordinator Jeff Schweighart, noting that the river crested at 11.66 feet in June, beating the previous recorded record of 10.92 feet in 2015.

“Part of the problem here in Washakie County is the original berms were created with scrap and old cars and things, so the volume is really causing them to erode, this year especially,” said Schweighart.

Schweighart reported that the county will meet with state Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials to estimate the damage and evaluate cost sometime within the next few weeks, to apply for the disaster assistance.

On July 3, in conjunction with the City of Worland, Washakie County Commission Chairman Terry Wolf authorized an emergency declaration for Washakie County to enable the area to receive emergency funding from the state to repair and mitigate flood damage from April.

Also signed by Worland Mayor Jim Gill and Schweighart, 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 damage estimates from our most recent runoff event were around $33,000 and the state authorized $30,000 so we qualified for relief,” explained Schweighart.

Private home and property owners may also qualify for assistance with flood damage, and are encouraged to contact Schweighart for more information.

Previously, the county looked at plans to remove a sediment obstacle from the Big Horn River in Worland, the cause of the February ice jam and flood event. At the time, the expense and timing was more than the district could accommodate.

“This particular assistance won’t address the sediment problem because it didn’t happen in the spring, so we will have to keep working with the [Army] Corps of Engineers on that,’ said Schweighart.

Federal funding will also be 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 Fremont and Park counties and the Wind River Reservation within Fremont county.

Thomas J. McCool has been named as the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. McCool said additional designations may be made at a later date if warranted by the results of damage assessments.