Boots on the Ground in Eagle, Alaska – After the Flood
This spring, when the ice went out on the Yukon River in Alaska, there was record flooding . House-sized chunks of ice let loose by the rising water wiped out trees, buildings, vehicles and anything in their path. Residents of the City and Village of Eagle were hit hard. The devastation was immense. A regular Mudflats reader who uses the screen name YukonBushGrandma lives in Eagle and shared reports with the community after fleeing from her home. Members of the Mudflats community rallied to help. Mudflatter Hope who lives on the Kenai Penninsula gathered supplies and donations, a collection was taken up online to purchase a power washer, and Hope drove from Kenai to Eagle in the “Hope Truck” to make the delivery on behalf of all of us. Meanwhile, the clean up still goes on with the help of local residents, the state, FEMA, and volunteers. This is the story of one of those volunteers, also a member of the Mudflats community. Thanks to her, and all the members of this community who have donated so generously with ysupplies, monetary donations, and labors of love to help the community of Eagle through this difficult time.
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Submitted by Mudflatter LoveMyDogs
On August 5th my husband and I packed our truck with tools (some his own and some bought for the town of Eagle to keep) and camping gear and hit the road for a 630 mile drive to volunteer in the reconstruction effort. We fully intended to leave early in the morning and stop in Tok overnight but, as in most of our travels, we did not leave until 7 pm. This meant attempting to drive straight through. We made it to some rest stop between Glenallen and Tok before fatigue (3:30 am), the rain and the smoke from numerous forest fires forced us to stop and sleep for a few hours. We woke up at 5:30 am, drove to Tok, had breakfast and continued for 5 more hours on the dirt road that Hope showed in her previous report. I was a bit sad because the smoke from the fires all but obscured any view. I was a bit nervous because we did not really know what to expect or how our skills would be put to use.
Forty Mile Creek on the road to Eagle
We arrived in Eagle at about 1:30pm where a volunteer coordinator graciously greeted us and fed us. After making contact with Yukon Bush Grandma and her husband, we dropped off our load of framing hammers, pry bars, speed squares, etc. at the distribution center (now a large tent) and headed to the campground to pitch our tent and get some much needed sleep. The following day we made contact with the head volunteer coordinator (Rob Pair) and got job assignments.
Because my husband had power tools as well as carpentry skills, they put him to use building stairs and a landing for a 74 year old gentleman who is beloved to the town. His house had been damaged by flood waters but not by ice. They had to dig buckets of contaminated dirt and silt out of his stairwell to his basement (which had already been stripped of flood damaged material). Materials for the stairs came from large piles of materials salvaged from destroyed homes. This is building in the bush. There is no Home Depot to drive to in order to get wood. Fortunately my husband not only knows how to do this (having built in the bush before) but he actually enjoys digging through old piles of stuff for treasures.
~Husband building new stairs with scavenged supplies
The riverfront: where salvaged materials lie in wait for intrepid hubby.
I, as well as 4 other women volunteers (who became my compadres), came to Eagle thinking that I could possibly be helping to hang sheetrock, paint, re-wire homes, etc. This was most definitely not the case. I must admit that I felt there was a certain amount of sexism involved in how jobs were distributed. Women were asked to cook or do laundry for older people and such. We bridled at this but did what we were asked. Because I had the truck, I was spared these tasks and sent out on clean-up. The FEMA contract for picking up refuse that is left outside of flooded homes after interiors had been stripped of flood damaged material had expired the day before. We were sent on missions to pick up plastics, piles of torn down sheetrock and insulation, destroyed household materials and anything else unsalvageable and take it to the makeshift dump. It was hard to believe that the papers had made it sound like all of this progress was being made in Eagle and yet everywhere we looked it appeared that the place was still in the progress of cleaning up instead of rebuilding. I feared for the residents being ready for winter. We drove past “ground zero” (the north end of the town where it intersects with “the old village”) at least 20 times that day and the following day. Here is what we saw.
And for you lovers of heavy equipment and cars, here is what the ice and water can do:
Yes, that’s a car in the bed of the red pick-up.
It went on and on. How could we possibly help in 3 days??? How were they going to be ready for winter???
We ate in an old historic building 3 times a day. We ate with the Mennonites (who were building homes we could not see) and the guys from Samaritan’s Purse (who were busy building outhouses) and the people who had lost everything and had nowhere to store food. Most of the people who lived in the town were still fairly shell shocked. They would come up to us with pictures of what their homes once looked like. Many of them had chosen to retire in Eagle. They would show us pictures of their dream homes with beautiful lawns and flowers out front. Then they would show pictures (including aerial views of what it looked like with the ice). They told their stories of what it was like (the sound of 60 foot trees as well as homes being crushed). We went to visit some of them where they are rebuilding:
Note where the branches are torn off the tree on the left. That is how high the water and ice went up.
These people are living in tents provided by FEMA. They are building log kit homes that are generally about 20×20 and trying to rebuild their lives on the $30K that FEMA provides, $10K donated by Samaritan’s Purse and $3K from the state. I am not a psychologist but I would wager they are all suffering from PTSD.
The third day that we were there it rained and it blew and the smoke lifted. It was Sunday and many went to church. This was my church:
I spent the day pulling staples and nails from salvaged material that would be used to rebuild.
I thought you might need the relief. I certainly did.
In the last picture there is an island in the river. That island used to be covered with 60 foot tall trees. It has been completely denuded by the ice. It is amazing that no one was seriously injured or killed.
We were supposed to leave on Monday by noon but we needed some relief from our own shock. So we decided to drive out to the new native village as well as parts of town that are still intact and, most importantly, to visit Yukon Bush Grandma and her husband again.
Eagle’s original Town Hall circa 1900.
What the Mennonites have been up to.
New homes, on high ground, in “the new village”.
The temporary road built to the old village to serve as an escape route until the road on the river front could be rebuilt.
What is left of the cemetery.
This is the riverfront. This is where Hope took her pictures when she went to Eagle. The dirt area used to contain homes, a store, a motel, etc. It has all been demolished and removed by heavy equipment and a large “chipper” that reduces everything that is not metal to “sawdust”. The “chipper was on its way to ground zero when we left.
Yukon Bush Grandma’s old house. The “chipper” hadn’t made it there yet.
And her new one in process.
I felt a little better after this little tour. Once again, we spent far too long chit chatting and laughing until our stomach’s hurt with YBG and her husband. As I noted before, she said that this was the best medicine, so it was worth every minute.
Eagle is a beautiful place with a strong and resilient community. We fully intend to return (hopefully as tourists but definitely as volunteers if necessary). It is well worth the drive. And when we drove back, what a glorious drive it was!
The Matanuska Valley
Kenai Lake
Great report LoveMyDogs and a real mix of heartbreaking and uplifting photographs. Thank you.
Do we know how much progress has been made for all those people since August ?
Very good report. It’s good to see that Eagle is rebuilding on higher ground and that new homes are being built.
Goosebumps.
Excellent work.
Thanks to you LoveMyDogs and people like you, the rebuilding is actually taking place. I can’t imagine the heartbreak these people must feel. I hope enough will be done before the bad whether sets in. YBG’s home looks like it is coming along. Great reporting and photos, thanks. ( I would love to join your church!)
This brought tears to my eyes, and I’m so glad we finally get to see your pictures and hear the update from – late summer? I hope YBG is still keeping people laughing – we sure miss her around here. Thank you so much for doing this!
Thank you for keeping us posted and sharing you images with us.
Wow, incredible stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Man, just as I was settling into my comfy chair chortling over your Begich town hall missive (fantastic piece) you jam my forehead right into this, and spill me onto the floor!
For all of the back and forth delightful political spear-chucking you have afforded us, this report trumps it all. No muscle, all bone. Great reporting. This should take the cake at HuffPo, as it erases all else in regards to our collective humanity, and what is truly important in this world. The power of both people and the natural world, colliding and conspiring in the verge.
Politics, for a moment, be damned.
Many thanks.
The human rainbow..that comes out, shining in tenacious splendor..after the storms. Tears, sweat, noseblowing, flight to safer ground..shock..stillness as numbness toys with our senses..and then..the itch, the words to a disaster..”The h— you say!”..and..look at the rebuild, the beauty-becoming.. thank you all. That is the stuff..of a world I see, believe in.
Yeah, but there is no such thing as global warming, right?…
Thanks…sure would like to see this in the ADN (news) and in the Press and whatever bush papers would pick it up. We all need to know what is going on around us, and the story, photos and actions represented here are about the “real” Alaska/America/World.
It’s good to see that things were gradually coming together in August, it seems like there was still so much left to be done! I hope progress continues. Isn’t it around now that the road in to Eagle closes for the winter?
Wow, thank you lovemydogs!
What has happened in Eagle, AK needs to be turned into a documentary and a book needs to be written on it, hopefully with a portion of sale proceeds used in the rebuild efforts.
This is not not getting enough media attention, it’s a really unusual event. It brings to mind other major catastrophic floods except this one is just more remote and removed from the lower 48. I think it deserves more national attention. Aren’t there people who specialize in covering and documenting natural disasters? Have they been contacted? In addition to the destruction of homes, the environmental impact really concerned me too, with all that fuel spilling into waterways. I hate to say this, but more of this type flooding could occur because of global warming, it be studied and watched very closely. Additionally, this event has most likely changed how the river will behave in the future, erosion and tree removal affect things.
In Colorado, the Big Thompson River flash flood on July 31, 1976 was a freakish natural disaster that killed 145 people in 2 hrs. at the hieght of summer tourism, it destroyed most of the Big Thompson Valley including small communities from Estes Park to Loveland, 30 miles away. My husbands family lived in Loveland at the time, his mother, a doctors assistant said the medical community jumped into action in the middle of the night to help. It was terrible.
Anyway, I know there are many books written about the event, with lots of pictures. In fact, there’s a whole section of the museum set up depicting the event. While I know it was bigger and more disastrous, surly somebody would want to write about Eagle. If it’s not being done, somebody get on it, lol, and don’t forget to add what the bad gov Scarah did about it, little to no preparation or care afterward, then she QUIT. I’m afraid Eagle is not getting enough help, be it volunteer or state/fed. Time is short in AK, how in the world will homes get built before winter?
My hugs to YBG. I wish I lived in Ak. I’m retired, very handy and can cook, also too, I’d come help. Unfortunately, I have more time than money. I will be hoping you have a long warm fall and mild winter in AK.
boodog: You don’t need permission. Anyone, anywhere, at any time can join my “church”. Just walk outside, wherever you are, and behold the wonder that is this planet. That morning had an amazing healing effect on an experience that had, until then, a nightmarish quality to it.
I don’t know how far they have come since we were there. YBG has not been in contact. I hope, with all my heart, that they have enough done to get through the winter. The road may be closed by now as it was snowing in Fairbanks the other day.
It is worth noting that many people lived in tents just like the FEMA tents when they first came to Alaska 40 or 50 years ago. They are made so that a woodburning stove can be installed. I just can’t imagine that at -60 degrees F unless one is tough as nails. But many of the people in Eagle are just that (tough as nails).
That trip took my breath away for awhile and re-entry into everyday life of work and politics, etc. was a bit difficult. I remember watching the whole Katrina debacle and feeling so helpless. At least with this one I could do something (as little as it seemed).
I don’t know if anyone is writing a book about it. The Canadian version of NPR was there and I think the Whitehorse or Dawson City papers probably had stories (Yukon Territory). It is always so interesting how there is a big headline when something like this happens but then everyone moves on-except the people who live there and are trying to pick up their lives again.
Say No to Palin in Politics@13:
I grew up in CO and remember the Big Thompson flood. That was horrific. I wonder if more was written about it because #1. people died and #2 it started in Rocky Mtn Nat’l Park.
I too wondered about the environmental impact as most people heat with fuel oil or propane (if not wood) and all of those tanks were spilled. I asked about it. It seemed to be a concern only in terms of human impact (as far as anyone there was concerned)–drinking water, etc. There was also a lot of e-coli contamination due to many outhouses, etc. I was told, “the Yukon River is like a big toilet bowl when the water goes out and it just flushes down the river”. Great, I thought, so it goes to the ocean and then nobody cares. I didn’t ask again because it seemed to be a bit of a sore spot with the locals and that wasn’t what I was there for. This all happened so fast that there wasn’t a lot that anyone could do about it at the time.
Anyway, I am now nursing my elderly dog Isis and trying to spoil her as much as I can because I don’t think she will make it through the winter. I have had her since she was a pup and it is just sooooo hard to watch her fade.
My human spirit is hurting so much with all of the hate and madness that seems to be constantly in the news these days. Sometimes I just have to retreat to a place where I can regain some peace.
Because I work in healthcare, I have decided to write a long letter to send to my Senators and the President. I have had almost enough of the crap that I hear. Why are they leaving it in the hands of Congresspeople who have no idea what is going on in the field? Why don’t they ask those of us who have been working out here and dealing with it? Would any of the mudpups out there be willing to read it when it is written and give their insights?
Peace and blessings to all.
These pictures and events show what I wish the whole USA looked like and would be like neighbor helping neighbor and even strangers helping strangers.We have seen it many times in flooding areas,why does this coming together only happen when destruction comes instead of all or at least most of the time .We all are our brothers keeper.
You bet love my dogs.You did what you could and much more than some did.I have wondered why more in the health car system don’t tak a more active roll in writing letters ,or maybe they do but the congressonal people are not speaking of them.I have heard nothing new about the doctors driving across country in support of healtyh care reform,not a word from the MSN.
LoveMyDogs, you capture the amazing force and resiliency of all natural things, us included. I will read this over and over. Thank you.
YukonBushGrandma, come back and visit us here soon.
LoveMyDogs,
Thank you for vicariously sharing your help to the devastated Eagle community. Keep up the good work.
lovemydogs, thank you for sharing your excellent photos and experience with all of us. Having seen damage from a tornado in my hometown of Garden City, KS back in the 1960s and then spending a week in Gautier, MS after Katrina, I realize that photos just don’t really show the actual damage and devastation. But they do give us a glimpse and a reminder that, if we can, we need to help others rebuild. As you said, many of the residents of Eagle are still likely suffering emotionally. Having volunteers come in from outside is a boost to them in more ways than just getting the work done.
say no to palin @ #13:
In Colorado, the Big Thompson River flash flood on July 31, 1976 was a freakish natural disaster that killed 145 people in 2 hrs. at the hieght of summer tourism, it destroyed most of the Big Thompson Valley including small communities from Estes Park to Loveland, 30 miles away. My husbands family lived in Loveland at the time, his mother, a doctors assistant said the medical community jumped into action in the middle of the night to help. It was terrible.
My mother was visiting my aunt in Longmont, CO that summer (she later lived there for 10 years). We had made that drive through the Big Thompson many times. And as it turned out, we drove through there just two weeks before that flash flood. We did a camping trip around Colorado and that was the last bit of the drive – to go to my aunt’s house, see my mom and then drive back to Wichita. I remember sitting later that fall in the dentist’s office, reading an account of a survivor in Reader’s Digest, and being able to so vividly picture the area. Beautiful, but the thought of being there during a flash flood was terrifying.
Some years later we drove it again, and I was surprised to see that some people had rebuilt on the same lots where their homes had been swept away. But our favorite restaurant that had perched over the river, where we always stopped for lunch, was gone. As was the fruit stand nearby where we bought real black cherry cider.
It seems that nature has a way of reminding us that no matter how good our intentions are, we still cannot control her.
LoveMyDogs – Thank you for taking the time to go to Eagle and helping out. And a big Thank you for sharing it with us.
Great job lovemydogs. You and hubby have good souls.
Thanks for the great report and photos, lovemydogs. They really covered the spectrum from devastation to hope and beauty.
So glad to hear that you and yukonbushgrandma had many laughs together.
Thanks for this update lovemydogs. The pictures tell it all. I can’t get over the amount of destruction and how much of it is still evident. I don’t know how much the state and federal government has done in helping this village, but it certainly seems more should have been done at this date. I’m sure your help was appreciated. Is there still a fund to contribute to?
LoveMyDogs, I am so sorry to hear about your Isis, it seems you are being handed more than your share of responsibility and caring lately – be sure to take care of you too. If you can find the energy to write a letter (on top of everything else!) I am sure we could help out here and give feedback on it. I second who me? – you and your husband are good souls.
LoveMyDogs~Beautiful update…Thank you …
My heart goes out to Isis, and you…I went thru this 2 wk ago..
(((hugs)))
lovemydogs-
Thank you for the photos and words… Eagle has been in my thoughts for months.
The tiny bit of help i have been able to offer is nothing compared to those, like you, who have gone to help.
For those of you who have missed it , some updates after lovemydogs’ trip are available at www dot eaglecity dot org
I miss YBG here and hope she pops in someday soon to fill us all in. I don’t know why the idea of you all laughing together, lovemydogs, made me want to cry… but it did.
Go Eagle!
Thank you again lovemydogs and you too AKM…
News from bush Alaska is hard to come by and good news, in general, is harder to come by yet …
Thank you, lovemydogs. Your assistance and photos should motivate more of us to donate any funds we can- as most of us live too far away to help physically. I live in Colorado, and every anniversary of the Big Thompson flood there are pictures and stories in the paper, reminders to respect the power of nature. I’m not sure the ones who rebuilt on the banks are able to get reasonable flood insurance-
My you and Isis feel the warm hugs sent your way.
I love AKM’s photo’s of Alaska. I am glad to see that the good folks of Eagle are re-building. I still don’t understand how the citizens of Alaska allowed someone like the disasterous Mrs. Palin get her greedy and incompetent hands on such a beautiful place.
Thanks lovemydogs for a beautiful and heartwarming update! You and your Husband are truly kind souls!!!
I’m sorry to hear about your poor beloved Isis, just keep spoiling as much as you can.
I love updates! and this one in particular…..
Thankyou so much.
Thank you and your husband so much for the time and work you did at Eagle LoveMyDogs. I’m so sorry to hear about your Isis. Our furry children never have long enough lives.
LoveMyDogs: Wonderful, wonderful photos and accompanying text. I have forwarded a link to this to my son in Fairbanks. He was there right after the flood and took the picture of Yukonbshgrma’s house that was posted here on the Mudflats. He has been back a couple of times, and I know he will love seeing your post.
Interesting to note that Samaritan’s Purse came up with a lot more $$$ than did the state of AK. I find that really sad. But at least it did come up with something, which is more than they did for W. AK last winter. Hugs to you and your husband.