(Spirit Lake)– Estimates to repair damage to infrastructure in a number of drainage districts in the region caused by the 2024 flood are coming in. Dickinson county contracted with Beck Engineering to conduct damage reports and assessments that were then submitted to FEMA. Some of the drainage districts extend into neighboring counties. Engineer John Hight said a number of the needed repairs carry a high price tag. Hight says they still don’t know how much assistance FEMA will actually provide. And he says there’s a requirement that the projects be completed by this coming December 31st. Based on that, Hight recommended a 12 month extension be requested…
“Not knowing if FEMA’s going to obligate, no knowing what the future of FEMA is going to bring. There’s a lot of question marks. I think there’s a lot of risk. In other circumstances with FEMA funding people do proceed with projects, they go forward and then they get the funding back after reimbursement, but I think given the situation and the dollar amounts we’re talking about to specific drainage districts, I think it would be wise to wait with that obligation.”
Hight says there is some risk in doing that, but he says that’s likely outweighed by all the uncertainty…
“It is a deteriorating condition to have unstable banks. If we were to get another event obviously those banks would get worse with each rainfall. So there’s a little bit of risk there.”
Hight says 11 drainage districts were reviewed for damage and that they filed requests for funding assistance through FEMA for five of them, along with one sub-district.
