LIBBY — Lincoln County residents are still picking up the pieces on their property after major flooding and severe windstorms rocked the region this month.
A Winter Storm Resource Center has opened in Libby which aims to help those affected by recent natural disasters.
“Standing trees are kind of part of our retirement, you know, because they are money in the bank, and they are kind of just destroyed unless we can salvage them somehow and get them off to a mill,” said Libby resident Mo Disney.
Watch to learn more about the Winter Storm Resource Center:
Disney and her husband, Harry, live just south of town in Libby off Bear Creek Road.
Mo reckons close to 100 trees fell on their 60-acre property during the windstorms.
“A lot of the species are very good lumber trees and everybody’s looking for housing, so we hate to just have them lie there and there’s no way we would use them in our wood stove in the next 100 years, there’s too many of them,” said Disney.
Mo was one of dozens of Lincoln County residents who stopped by the Winter Storm Resource Center at the Libby Memorial Events Center on Monday to see what recovery resources are available.
“Like I said, we don’t like to take government money, but it’s a problem way bigger than what we can handle, I mean we don’t have the equipment, we don’t have the energy, and we just hate to see them go to waste,” said Disney.
Representatives from the Office of Emergency Management, Montana DEQ, the American Red Cross and others are on hand at the resource center focusing on recovery and restoration for Lincoln County Residents.
“General public or if you are a business owner, we want information from everyone, and it will be great to get you in touch with the resources you need, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation spokeswoman Anna Lau.
Lau said information on how much storm damage was done county-wide can lead to additional state and federal funding as recovery continues.
She said representatives from FEMA are expected to arrive in Lincoln County on Tuesday.
“So that we can get a better idea of what sort of resources we can bring in from out of state,” added Lau.
The Winter Storm Resource Center is open to the public from noon to 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 29 and Tuesday, Dec. 30.
