Batt Plans Address On Floods Governor To Outline Damages, Where To Get Money For Relief

Gov. Phil Batt said on Thursday that he plans an unprecedented address to the Legislature next week to outline what the state should do to help Panhandle counties recover from flood damage estimated at $100 million.

The governor has canceled plans for weekend appearances at Republican political events in North Idaho to work on gathering damage assessments. He already has made three trips to flood-ravaged areas.

“Although we have a ballpark figure of the damage and a ballpark figure of the federal help available, we really have no idea yet,” Batt said.

But he said his Wednesday night meeting with President Clinton and other federal officials left him confident that assistance will not be held up by government red tape.

“We are seeing an example in which government works for a change, where it’s not bogged down in procedure and actually does what it’s designed to do,” Batt said. “There will be some instances in which people will have suffering that can’t be alleviated, but this is going a long way.”

For the state’s part, the Legislature already is considering Batt’s proposal to lift the 3-percent cap on annual increases in property tax collections for counties where disasters are declared.

The governor said he also would give lawmakers his assessment of the damages, ask for an increase in his office’s disaster fund and tell them what state accounts can be tapped to match federal aid money.

The day for his address had not been determined on Thursday. No governor in any official’s memory has addressed the Legislature in a context other than the annual State of the State and budget speeches.

Wednesday night, Clearwater County Commission Chairman Jim Wilson told Clinton during the president’s meeting with Batt, Idaho’s congressional delegation and others that the government’s financial help was needed right away. If it does not come quickly, he said, “I’m afraid I may have bankrupted our county” with the initial response to flooding in the Orofino area.

Clinton and White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta urged state officials to complete their damage assessments quickly so the administration can ask Congress to replenish its disaster relief budgets.

The president also reminded Batt of a federal law that allows aid in an amount up to 15 percent of the total damages to be used in projects aimed at preventing similar disasters in the future.

Batt said on Thursday that such plans were in the works. In fact, he said, “All our aid will be designed to mitigate any further trouble.”

Meanwhile, flood waters continued to recede in North Idaho and repairs continued on the area’s damaged roads and highways. But the flooding may have done in some of the rail lines on the Palouse.

Mud slides, falling trees and water that swept soil from beneath tracks caused extensive damage to main line and short line railroads in north-central Idaho, Eastern Washington and Oregon.

The Palouse River-Blue Mountain Railroad estimates damage to its tracks at more than $1.3 million. Palouse tracks operated by Burlington Northern also were damaged.

More than 130 Idaho National Guard personnel remained deployed in the disaster areas, including 48 in St. Maries and 36 in Orofino, helping with such tasks as water purification.