MISSOULA — Gov. Greg Gianforte visited Missoula on Thursday and took a tour of the debris drop-off location at Fort Missoula.
The storm on July 24 left Missoula and the surrounding areas with debris scattered on roads, sidewalks and property.
The response largely so far has been by the community of Missoula itself with neighbors helping one another clear the debris.
State resources were deployed immediately after the storm with the Office of Disaster and Emergency Services providing coordination for the clean-up response as well as the National Guard being deployed to distribute water and ice.
Once the disaster declarations were officially declared, the state was then able to free up state general funds to help pay for some of the damage.
MTN asked Gov. Gianforte why his visit occurred a week after the storm and the governor responded by stating that the state had been involved from the beginning of the disaster response and that a visit earlier would have been a distraction.
“We were involved since the first hours of this disaster. Getting disaster and emergency services here, the national guard, the disaster declaration. We’ve been tracking this hour-by-hour throughout. My arrival early in the response would have been a distraction and would have taken away from the actual work on the ground” said Gov. Gianforte.
Now that the disaster declarations have gone into effect, additional resources from the state can be deployed to assist in the clean-up efforts as well as help cover some of the costs of rebuilding.
For a state disaster to be declared, the county has to commit 2 mill levies. A mill levy is a property tax and the value of them are $406,868 for the City of Missoula and $303,487 for Missoula County.
Beyond that, the governor can request a Major Disaster Declaration for Missoula County if the damages exceed the FEMA threshold - which is $542,441. Alongside that, the total damages must exceed the state threshold of $1,994,474.
If the Major Disaster Declaration is approved, FEMA will pay 75% of the cost and the remaining 25% will be covered by the local municipality until they reach their 2 mill levies values — $303,487 for Missoula County.
