None of Ketchikan's $1.65 million in landslide aid has been paid out

A year after the landslides that hit Ketchikan on Aug. 25, 2024, FEMA has committed $1,651,380 to the recovery and none of it has been paid out. The window to spend the money and account for it closes Sept. 30.

The Alaska Department of Military and Veterans Affairs passes the money to three recipients under FEMA's Public Assistance program, which reimburses governments and some nonprofits for disaster costs. The City of Ketchikan holds $1,545,986 across seven approved projects, most of it road repairs and utility work. Women In Safe Homes, a Ketchikan nonprofit, holds $8,366. The state keeps $97,028 to administer the grant.

The approved work is less than half of what the city says it lost. Ketchikan has ten projects totaling $3.6 million in damage, and three of them are still moving through FEMA's review.

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough is not on the list at all. It was the area FEMA designated when the disaster was declared on Nov. 13, 2024, and it withdrew its application and discontinued the process, according to FEMA records.

Only about $34,000 of the award, roughly two percent, covers the immediate emergency response after the slides. The rest is rebuilding. FEMA has committed the full amount on paper, and the city's grant is listed as awaiting completion.