FEMA obligates $93,571 for state debris removal in Juneau from 2020 storms

FEMA on Oct. 28 obligated a $93,571.34 federal share for a Juneau debris removal project under the disaster declared after storms in late 2020. It was the only project under that disaster obligated that day, and the first money obligated for it.

The applicant is the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities' South Coast Region. FEMA classifies the work as Category A debris removal, a small project costing $103,968.15. The federal share covers 90% of that.

Disaster 4585, declared Feb. 17, 2021, covers severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides that struck Alaska Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, 2020. FEMA has obligated about $36.3 million across it. Haines Borough, Juneau Borough, Petersburg Borough, Skagway and the Chatham Regional Educational Attendance Area were designated for assistance.

The same disaster covers Haines Borough's Porcupine Trail Road. FEMA's records show a federal share of about $1.29 million for that road, first obligated March 3, 2022, and most recently Sept. 25.

That project ran into trouble after an Aug. 31, 2023, FEMA site visit. FEMA's environmental review found the borough had widened the road and authorized work outside the approved first-phase scope without prior approval. FEMA pulled back the $1.44 million project on Dec. 12, 2023, according to a borough resolution.

FEMA denied the borough's first appeal July 19, 2024, and the borough filed a second appeal that September. FEMA's appeals tracker lists that second appeal as granted Dec. 15, 2025. Borough Manager Alekka Fullerton wrote Jan. 8 that FEMA had notified the borough it won the appeal.

In a Feb. 9 letter, the Chilkat Indian Village (Klukwan) Tribal Council said the road "sits entirely within our traditional territory," where members travel for subsistence harvesting, including berry picking. The council asked the assembly to reconsider seeking more FEMA money for the road's second and third phases.