Flood Prevention Funds Still On Hold Counties Need Fema Approval Before Starting Projects

Almost $3 million of flood prevention work is on hold while North Idaho counties wait for Federal Emergency Management Agency approval.

Out of more than 50 requests for help from public agencies, the state has recommended that 22 projects get federal funds from FEMA.

If approved, the money will pay to move a few dozen homes out of the flood plain, remove gravel from creek bottoms, raise homes near St. Maries, fix storm drains in Troy and maybe even help raise the dike near Cataldo.

County and city officials are hoping the money is approved soon so they can get to work before winter.

“We’re all sitting and waiting and hoping we don’t run out of time,” said Bill Schwartz, director of Kootenai County Disaster Services.

The $3 million in mitigation funds is the last of the money coming to North Idaho from FEMA after the February floods earned the region the designation of a national disaster area.

Other FEMA funds helped pay for repairs or temporary housing while families restored their flooded homes. The mitigation money is for prevention.

“In that context, these projects don’t really need to be done before the next flood, although obviously we would like them done then,” said Stephen Weiser, state mitigation coordinator.

In Orofino, a church and four families are waiting for the city to get FEMA money to buy their property.

A house belonging to Wayne and Cindy Wilson partially washed away in the flood, and the rest was demolished by the city to keep it from washing down Orofino Creek.

The same thing happened to a neighboring church.

The Wilsons have purchased another home, but still have to pay the mortgage on the home that was destroyed.

The city wants to reimburse the church and the Wilsons for their loss, and buy out three other families in order to turn the block into a greenbelt by the creek.

“We have people waiting in the wings, wondering what to do,” said Rick Laam, city manager.

In Shoshone County, about 20 families will have their houses moved out of the flood plain if FEMA approves two relocation projects along the Coeur d’Alene River.

A joint project is already underway between the Bureau of Land Management, the county and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove the build up of gravel from the Pine Creek stream bed. Both in February and during spring runoff, debris carried from the high water down Pine Creek threatened to wash out a bridge in a populated area of the canyon.

“People get tired of having water in their house,” said Harold Van Asche, the county employee who wrote the mitigation grant applications.

“I understand that. I lived in Lake Cataldo in ‘73 and ‘74,” he said, joking about the county’s downstream neighbor.

To help save Cataldo from future floods, Kootenai County has applied for funding from several agencies to raise the dike and install a floodgate under Interstate 90.

The project is a high priority with the state, Weiser said, which requested $264,000 from FEMA for the dike.

The county also is waiting to hear from the federal Economic Development Administration, which is considering a grant application for $1.6 million to fix a leak and raise the dike.

“We’re trying everything we can,” said Kootenai County Commissioner Dick Panabaker.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT THE MONEY’S FOR Here are the recommendations from the state of Idaho to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for mitigation projects in three North Idaho counties. $382,980 to move homes from Riverview Drive between Kingston and Cataldo; $248,330 to move homes from the Coeur d’Alene River in the Bumblebee area; $100,000 to remove gravel from the bed of Latour Creek; $9,500 to move the Cochrane home off the flood plane near Cataldo; $263,920 to raise and extend the dike near Cataldo; $42,000 to build a spillway for Hayden Lake; $20,092 for the Cherry Creek control gate in St. Maries; $178,000 to elevate homes along the St. Joe River; $349,800 to elevate homes in the Riverdale neighborhood near St. Maries; $349,800 to elevate homes in the Meadowhurst neighborhood near St. Maries.