Channeling Flood Aid Gov. Phil Batt Hands Out Relief Checks To Help Flood-Damaged Communities Rebuild

Where the floodwaters receded, the money has begun to flow.

Gov. Phil Batt flew into the Silver Valley and St. Maries on Friday to distribute checks to public agencies in areas damaged by the February floods.

In Pinehurst, where a Division Street sign warns of a duck-crossing, Batt handed out $13,000 to the little Avery School District, $8,380 to the Kingston-Cataldo Sewer District and thousands more to other affected agencies.

Most of the checks covered 90 percent of flood damage costs, with 75 percent coming from the federal government and 15 percent from the state’s rainy day fund. The state’s total expense is expected to be $3 million to $4 million.

“It’s a pleasure for us to come up and, instead of taking your tax money this time, help you with the troubles you’ve had,” Batt said.

But as Batt strolled along Cataldo’s dike, discussing ways to prevent future disasters, some of the hard-hit residents of the area were still wondering how they would recover.

Three businesses in Cataldo were denied small business disaster loans, along with The Big Eddy resort along the St. Joe River and an undetermined number of businesses in St. Maries.

Gary Przybilski, owner of The Big Eddy, lost a maintenance shop, six trailers that were rental units, some riverfront land and plenty of business.

Before the flood, he had 40 tenants. Now he has 14, he said.

“I haven’t seen a red nickel from any governmental agency,” Przybilski said.

When the floods hit, ESPN and Snowboarder Magazine had to cancel stints with Peak Adventures, a fledgling snowcat ski business owned by Cataldo residents Steve and Terri Matthews.

After three days filling out paperwork, the Matthews were denied disaster loans because last year’s profit was too small.

Across the road at the closed Third Generation Restaurant, owner Virgil Miller stood by a wood stove in the quiet building Friday and contemplated his future.

The floods destroyed the kitchen equipment in the restaurant, and the Millers didn’t qualify for a disaster loan to refurbish it.

The building originally was a grocery store and post office when Miller’s grandfather bought it in the ‘40s. Now it’s up for sale.

“I have to go out and find a job,” he said. But Miller isn’t bitter. “It was Mother Nature that did it, nobody else.”

Down the street, Judy Watson is downright impatient for the Canyon Bridge to reopen. The bridge provides access to the Rose Lake area, and many customers of the Bodine’s Bar & Grill come from that direction.

“Our business has gone to poopoo because we don’t have the through traffic,” she said. But Watson counts herself lucky, because, “there’s people who have lost everything.”

The bridge was closed after the raging waters of the Coeur d’Alene washed out the bank under one end.

Batt and National Guard Major Gen. Jack Kane with the state disaster bureau assured local officials that the state and federal government will cover the cost of road and bridge repairs “100 percent.”

But when that money will flow to particular projects is unclear.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo