At a press conference in Bethel Monday night, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said he would seek a federal disaster declaration for the storm in Western Alaska last weekend. The declaration will make available federal funding and support for recovery efforts. Alaska National Guard Maj. Gen. Torrence Saxe, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, says before the governor can make a request, state officials must determine how much funding to request. Sachs said the state will ask the federal government for both public and private assistance. “So that would be money for infrastructure and also for individual homes,” Saxe said. “And in order to accomplish that, we need to get boots on the ground from FEMA, which they are doing right now, to assess exactly what has happened and the dollar amount.” Dunleavy, who has already declared the storm a state disaster, said if the federal disaster declaration is approved, FEMA will cover at least 75 percent of eligible disaster costs. “We think a lot of the damage is going to be a result of erosion on roads, some structures, maybe some power poles, etc., so we certainly think it’s appropriate for the federal government to help with that,” Dunleavy said. On Monday, state officials visited Hooper Bay and Scammon Bay and flew over Chevak. Dunleavy said there was less damage than some officials expected and things were beginning to return to normal. On Tuesday, officials plan to visit Newtok. They will go to the Bering Strait communities, including Golovin and Nome, later this week. Brian Fisher, director of the state Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said 63 homes in Western Alaska have reported damage so far.
