Posted: 9/18/07
Hokah Township expects few problems
and quick payment for flood recovery
By Tom Murphy
Special for the Caledonia Argus
The record rainfall and mudslides that happened in August were new to Hokah Township. It had been through disasters before, but damage had nearly always been from the Root River. The severe floods of June, 2000 were the most recent for the township.
"We expect pretty much the same paperwork as 2000," said board chair Terry Rosendahl last Friday. The FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) project manager was to be in Hokah Township last Saturday. After that visit, a work sheet is reviewed and sent in with a copy of the bills.
If everything goes as planned, FEMA will pay 75 percent of the cost within 30 days. "Weíre hoping the state will contribute the balance of the bills. We have an estimated $240,000 in damage to our public structures in the township," he said.
Rosendahl said last weekís meeting to kick off the work with FEMA went well. "There were no disputes. FEMA was real good, real open. FEMA seems willing to work through the projects."
Butterfield Valley, where the state record for rainfall in a 24 hour period was set, had extensive damage to its roads from high water. Ridgeview Drive was another area heavily impacted. The town board chairman told of one hole that required 20 yards of concrete to fill. It was two feet wide, eight feet deep, and 30 feet long he said. "Iíve never seen anything like it. It ran up hill," he said.
While the FEMA project manager was in Hokah Township, that personís only concern was the townshipís public structures. Rosendahl said there was substantial damage to private property and that was a different area of the FEMA agencyís responsibility.
It was the edges and shoulders of the roads which seemed to be most affected in Hokah Township. All of the 14 miles of township road are seal coated. "The water seemed to run right over the road," Rosendahl said.
Other members of the board are supervisors Dick Markos, Mark Von Arx, Ruth Horihan, and Jane Scheffer.
Caledonia Argus
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