Disaster declared for Blaine County, Ft. Belknap

Thursday, the president declared the fourth federal flooding disaster in five years in north-central Montana, with President Barack Obama approving Gov. Steve Bullock’s request for a disaster declaration for Blaine County and the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation.

Bullock also announced today that additional aid is available due to weather problems from the Small Business Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The president approved the governor’s request for a federal disaster declaration in Blaine County and Fort Beklnap as well as Carter, Musselshell, Petroleum and Valley counties for wind and flooding damage in storms from Aug. 21-25.

Bullock declared a disaster Sept. 3 for those regions as well as the town of Ekalaka in Carter County, allowing state funds to be spent in the disaster recovery for those jurisdictions. The federal declaration will bring the Federal Emergency Management Agency back to Montana to administer using federal funds to further supplement paying for recovery efforts.

Bullock said in a press release this morning that the U.S. Small Business Administration is making low-interest federal disaster loans available to small, nonfarm businesses in Blaine, Fergus, Garfield, Petroleum, Phillips and Valley counties to offset economic losses due to reduced revenues caused by heavy rains, flooding and hail that occurred Aug. 22 through Sept. 24.

He also announced that United States Department of Agriculture issued a secretarial disaster declaration for damages and losses caused by the heavy rains and flooding in that period. The declaration names Phillips County as a primary natural disaster area, and Blaine, Fergus, Garfield, Petroleum and Valley counties as contiguous disaster counties.

The August storms brought wind gusts of up to 75 mph in Ekalaka and dropped seven inches of rain in a short period in some regions, causing flooding including in the Milk River and its tributaries and causing damage at Fort Belknap and in Blaine County and other counties in the declaration.

The members of Montana’s congressional delegations, Democratic Sens. Jon Tester and John Walsh and Republican Rep. Steve Daines, called on FEMA and the president to approve the governor’s request. All three this morning praised the disaster declaration.

The president in April approved a request to declare a disaster for 15 counties affected by ice jams and flooding in March.

North-central Montana is still reeling from previous flooding over the last five years, with recovery work still ongoing on the reservations and in the counties.

In 2010, heavy rains on snow in the Bear Paw Mountains led to severe flooding in Rocky Boy and in Beaver Creek Park, including destroying Rocky Boy’s new multi-million dollar clinic.

Then in 2011, widespread flooding brought another federal declaration for the region and to the state, including Fort Belknap and Blaine County as well as Rocky Boy and Hill and Chouteau counties and dozens of other counties.

That event also led to a declaration allowing federal assistance to private property owners.

Federal disaster declarations generally provide assistance only to governmental or eligible nonprofit entities, mostly to repair public sites and facilities. A separate declaration is necessary to allow for assistance to private property owners.

In 2013 heavy rains — with more than 13 inches falling in the Bear Paw Mountains in two weeks — again brought flooding and a federal declaration to the region to assist public entities in repairs.