MISSOULA — Missoula was hit by a massive storm that caused extensive damage across the city last summer.
Cleanup is still underway, with financial help expected from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
However, FEMA is contending with its own issues, from staff cuts to even the possibility of being eliminated.
Watch to learn more about the ongoing cleanup from the July 2024 windstorm:
MTN checked in with Missoula County's Office of Emergency Management (OEM) to see where they are in the repayment process.
Last year's windstorm collectively cost the City of Missoula and Missoula County $5.5 million. While FEMA has reimbursed some of that funding, the majority of it hasn't yet been.
"The debris that was generated from those trees [was] about 95,000 cubic yards, which is enough to fill a football field, about 45 ft high, and that's, that's after it's been processed," OEM director Adriane Beck said.
Whenever a natural disaster happens, Beck says an initial damage assessment sets the course and determines if outside support is necessary.
"In the very early hours, we recognized that no, it was going to be beyond our capabilities," Beck recalled.
Following the storm, both Missoula County and the City declared an emergency.
"We're gonna need to access funds that we probably don't have budgeted for this," Beck said.
An emergency declaration was also received from the state, and then the President's office.
"Which is where FEMA comes in. We did get that presidential disaster declaration about 30 days after it," Beck explained.
All the while, both the County and the City are keeping tabs on clean-up costs, some of which they're still incurring almost a year later. She notes that the City's damage is totaling around $4.3 million while the County's is around $1.2 million.
"It's the contractors that have to cut down the trees. It's the hauling the debris to an area to be processed. It's hiring the contractors to process that debris, and then we have to take that debris someplace," Beck detailed.
Beck says that FEMA's repayment period can take 18 to 24 months and that only 75% of the cost is covered.
Watch previous coverage: Cleanup of damaged trees from July's Missoula windstorm continues
"The part of requesting a local emergency declaration is the acknowledgement that we're gonna have to find that money locally," Beck said. "Also, that state declaration, there are certain thresholds that are maximum amounts that any local government would have to contribute towards that 25%. It's based on your 2 mill value. In Missoula City, for example, a 2 mill value is $417,321. So, that's the maximum amount that the city would have to pay towards this disaster per the Stafford Act."
Since some disaster sites across the country were denied FEMA funding or have had it rescinded, uncertainty within the agency is on the minds of Missoula's Emergency Management Office.
"Right now, there's all kinds of things happening at the federal level and what FEMA looks like going into the future may be very different. How the Stafford Act, which is what we rely on for disaster declarations, what that looks like in the future is somewhat of an unknown right now. But what we're operating on is that we've received no indication that those funds from this particular windstorm are in jeopardy," Beck explained.
If changes do take place federally, Beck says Missoula will have to adjust to those alterations.
"Where the money comes from is going to be a concern, but it can't prevent us from having to do those things that are necessary to protect public health and safety," Beck said.
