Update: Help Centers Open

EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTER-- Residents who are affected by the flood can visit the Help Centers located at the Willow Community Center and Sunshine Fire Station. The Centers are open from 10a.m to 8p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10a.m to 6p.m., Saturday through Sunday. Help Centers have one-gallon jugs of water and cases of water bottles available to flood impacted people. As of today, 115 people had visited the Help Centers for assistance and resources. Help Centers are available by phone at 495-2055, Willow Community Center or 733-2055, Sunshine Fire Station.

Relief packets are available at the Help Centers, and at the Administration Department in the Dorothy Swanda Jones Building, located at 350 E. Dahlia, in Palmer. Relief packets are also available at the Cottonwood Public Safety Building, located 680 N. Seward Meridian Parkway.

Help Centers are issuing coupons for up to $50 for disposal of flood debris at Matanuska-Susitna Borough transfer stations and the MAT-SU Landfill off of 49^th State Street. In addition, dumpsters for flood debris are located in Talkeetna at the Beaver Rd. Gravel Pit, Houston Fire Station on the Parks Highway, and at the end of King Arthur Drive.

Water testing is available to those in the affected areas at no cost.(Water Test kits are free, but the testing is paid for by property owners.)Water should be tested within 24 hours of collection for best results. Water testing kits are available at the help centers in Talkeetna and Willow, and also at the MAT-SU Test Lab (located at mile 3.2, Palmer-Wasilla Highway).Samples must be labeled with the following information: Name, Date of Sample, Phone, Property Location, and include "Flood Sample" on label. For more information regarding flooded residential water and septic systems call the Department of Environmental Conservation at 376-1861 or 376-1852.

The State Emergency Coordination Center is supporting the Borough's efforts to assess the amount of damage. Some regions are still inaccessible. Information on damage to private property will be flowing in over the next two weeks. Help Centers are learning first-hand about damage from residents who were affected by the flooding.

The Borough is still focused on life safety issues, damage assessment and repair of Borough roads and infrastructure. As the Borough moves from the emergency phase to the recovery phase, it opened the Incident Recovery Center (IRC) at the Cottonwood Public Safety Building. For road conditions and updates access the MAT-SU Borough Web site at www.matsugov.us.