City to host meeting Thursday to discuss flood damage

Dick Altman has spent the last three days with a squeegee.

Since Saturday, Altman has been cleaning water and mud out of the Fifteenth Avenue prayer center his brother, Frank, operates on the east end of Havre.

"Every time we get a little water on the east end this happens," Dick Altman said. "You talk about work, I tell you. We had to squeegee all the mud out of this carpet."

Altman isn't alone. Many property owners in Havre were affected by last weekend's downpour, which flooded homes and businesses alike.

A meeting will be held at City Hall on Thursday to assess the damage and provide referrals to those affected. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

Dan McGowan, planning bureau chief from the state Disaster and Emergency Services Division, will attend.

"He'll help them fill out paperwork. He knows of agencies that may be able to help out individuals," Havre Mayor Bob Rice said Monday. "People will have to estimate the cost of damages to their home."

Over the weekend, Rice visited about a half-dozen residences, most in Havre's east end, affected by the downpour.

"The water was up to here in one guy's basement," he said, pointing to just below his waist.

Rice encouraged anyone affected by the flooding to attend the meeting.

"We should take the opportunity to hear these people out," he said. "I'm trying. This is the only thing I know to do."

Altman, meanwhile, spent this morning riding a four-wheeler, pushing mud away from the prayer center's driveway. The force of the water was so great it creased in a garage door on the premises a door Altman reinforced with two steel beams last summer.

"The water pressure just pushed it in. And the Sheetrock just got torn off the walls," he said.

"This is a never-ending job," Altman added. "And it ain't done yet."