Anchorage Daily News

Eagle residents who lost their homes last month in the worst Yukon River flood in recorded history are putting out a plea for volunteer labor.

It could be weeks before state and federal dollars for disaster relief start pouring in. Residents in the town of Eagle and the nearby Eagle Village can't afford to wait that long to remove flood debris and begin rebuilding, said Andy Bassich, coordinator of the Eagle Rebuilding Construction Team, on Saturday.

He said the residents are overwhelmed with work.

The root of their anxiety: about 20 destroyed homes in the two communities must be rebuilt before the first snowfall at the end of September.

There's also the matter of building new roads, gravel pads and outbuildings, Bassich said.

A FEMA team will arrive in Eagle and some other flooded villages today to begin assessing individual homes for the cost of replacing them, said Jeremy Zidek, a spokesman for the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

He said the state and FEMA are aware of the Interior's short building season. "We have tried to accelerate the pace," he said.

Residents are worried about potential construction delays that could force them to abandon Eagle this winter, but everything will probably turn out OK if the rebuilding money from FEMA arrives by early July, Bassich said.

The city of Eagle started its own rebuilding program, tasking Bassich, a local tour operator, to run it.

In May, Bassich, his girlfriend and their sled dogs were rescued from their nearby homestead by helicopter. They probably won't be able to return until July, said Kate Rorke, his girlfriend, who is also helping out with the local cleanup projects.

Most of the Eagle area residents who lost their homes are physically incapable of rebuilding them, and the rest are overwhelmed with their own projects, Bassich said.

Despite that, local residents have started up some community-wide projects, including an expanded vegetable garden next to the Eagle school and a new fish wheel. The flood destroyed some local residents' vegetable patches and three fish wheels, Bassich said.

Many Alaskans have donated supplies -- including a massive amount of dog food -- but so far, volunteer workers remain in short supply, he said.

"A lot of people are calling to see if there's work, but we're kind of relying on volunteer help until the funding comes in," Bassich said.

A crew of 10 men from Dawson City arrived in Eagle last weekend, he said. They dismantled one home, built a new outhouse for an elderly woman and ripped out rotten wood from another local home, he said.

The city could really use some more volunteers skilled in carpentry and running heavy equipment, Bassich said. Residents can house eight to 10 volunteers and the school can serve volunteers three meals per day, he said.

Some Eagle residents created a Web page with a message board and a list of the community's requests for donated items. The page is at http://eaglefloodinfo.wikispaces.com.

Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.

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