newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Federal officials Friday declared flooding and other natural disasters in Northern and Interior Alaska late this summer a federal disaster, according to the state of Alaska.

The office of Gov. Sarah Palin put word out that President Bush approved the disaster declaration, which state officials said clears federal funding to help recovery and response efforts.

Fairbanks and areas to the east and west along the Chena, Salcha and Tanana rivers were inundated with flood water in late July and early August after heavy rainfall dumped between 2 and 6 inches across the region. The 500-person town of Nenana was submerged, and hundreds of properties in neighborhoods around Fairbanks and Salcha were damaged.

“This was the most severe flooding to hit the Fairbanks area in 40 years, and I am pleased the federal government recognized the need to get involved and that Alaskans will get the assistance necessary to start the rebuilding process,” Palin said in a release Friday afternoon.

 Under the federal disaster declaration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay up to 75 percent of eligible recovery costs, according to the state.

“The leadership and staff from the Federal Emergency Management Agency Region 10 in Bothell, Wash., have been close and cooperative partners with the state from the first days of this disaster,” said Alaska Lt. Gen. Craig Campbell, the state’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs commissioner, in the same release. “I compliment their eagerness to support the state as we help the local communities recover from the effects of these storms.”