Governor's disaster declaration unlocks state aid for Talkeetna flooding

Flooding in Talkeetna damaged several structures and washed away one home, and now residents are pressing for a lasting repair rather than another round of study. The state has authorized public assistance money for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to respond, under a disaster declaration the governor signed July 25.

The borough had asked for the help days earlier. On July 21, the Mat-Su Borough Assembly declared a local emergency over the rising water and requested state assistance, after heavy rain and swelling rivers threatened homes, businesses, roads and railroad tracks. The declaration carries 180 days of emergency authority and asks the state to help cover matching funds the borough can't provide on its own.

At that July 21 meeting, residents pushed for a permanent solution. "We've seen the revetment in front of our property wash away, and so it's alarming," said Edna DeVries, describing a property and business at the end of Main Street on the river.

How the long-term fix gets paid for remains unsettled — the emergency money addresses the immediate response, not the permanent repair residents are asking for.