Fort Greely furniture heads to flooded villages
Published Monday, August 24, 2009
Digg
delicious
Facebook
Mixx
Reddit
Stumble It!FAIRBANKS — One soldier’s suggestion that the U.S. Army could help devastated Yukon River communities resulted in enough donated furniture to fill a couple of warehouses.
Now, volunteers are working through the logistical knot of hauling couches and beds, washers, dryers and tables from Fort Greely to Fairbanks, then to villages on and off the road system before winter closes transportation routes.
Communities from Eagle to the Lower Yukon suffered heavy damage this spring as ice jams drove flooding. Dozens of homes were extensively damaged, and several were destroyed.
And while volunteers are rebuilding structures, the Fort Greely garrison figured a way past red tape, donating enough furniture to outfit 40 homes from a supply of gently-used pieces destined for military sale, garrison spokesman Kent Cummins confirmed.
“There’s everything you can think of,” he said. “It’s a great thing to be able to be a community partner. We’re a small installation, but we were able to do something in this case that’s a pretty big deal.”
A young man on post noted the stored furniture and wondered if it couldn’t help flood victims, Cummins said.
“They figured it out, and were able to donate pretty much all of it,” he said.
Some has made its way to Fairbanks via Lynden Transport, which donated truck space. Some is in garrison warehouses, ready to be moved next week.
Volunteer crews in Fairbanks are offloading the trucks by hand, shifting furniture into temporary storage while the Tanana Chiefs Conference figures a way to connect with villages, said Teamster volunteer Deborah Hutchens.
More help is needed. Volunteers have only one dolly at their disposal, and they are running short of storage space, she said.
Rick Sikma is a member of Community Services Active in Disaster and is helping organize the furniture effort, which he heralded as one of the myriad ways people locally and Outside are helping flood victims.
“We have several different villages that have had a lot of flood damage,” he said.
Eagle, on a seasonal road, was hit hardest. About 19 homes were destroyed between the city and the Old Village. Four homes were wiped out in Stevens Village, and 19 suffered serious damage. In Tanana, 26 were severely damaged. Twenty in Fort Yukon suffered. Another eight Circle homes and seven in Red Devil were hit.
“And further on down the line, there are others,” Sikma said. “It is amazing to me. People in our community have seen people near to us who have had a disaster, and people are stepping up. I’m very appreciative of the Army; they could have sold this furniture, but they’ve seen fit to give it to us.”
People interested in helping can call Hutchens on her cell phone at 388-4858.
Community Discussion
Newsminer.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full user's agreement.
that is pretty cool
Nice to see my fellow Army boys helping out my fellow Natives.
Thirteen scientists researching national climate change in the U.S., two from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, reported “Alaska had longer summers, higher temperatures and drier conditions; insect outbreaks; increased wildfires; thawing permafrost; coastal storms; and displacement of marine species”. Their research showed Alaska has warmed more than twice the rate of the rest of the U.S with an average 3.4 degrees annual average increase and winters that are 6.3 degrees warmer in a period of only 50 years. The 90-page report can be found at www.globalchange.gov/usimpacts.
Scientists from the University of Ontario, studying the Yukon River, discovered there have been dramatic fluctuations of extreme low and high flows. These extreme fluctuations occurred over 44 years, not centuries. Extreme low flows have resulted in severe droughts and forest fires. This year’s extreme high flows caused massive flooding and ice chunks the size of buildings which destroyed three villages in Alaska along its banks. Agriculture and fishing have been dramatically altered. Maybe stopping CO2 in AK would help a lot more in the first place to stop the damage to average Alaskans.
Tundra Trekker, anyone who has been around for awhile remembers these types of floods on the Yukon. Nothing new and it will probably happen again. Have you ever been in the interior or are you one of those arm chair experts on Alaska who has never set foot in Alaska? Good use for all that stored furniture. As usual the military has step up and helped Alaskan communities in need.
Thank you! the military! from a federal government tribal entity to another! God bless America!
Way cool!
Our military is a good neighbor, so is Lynden Transport. I headed up an all volunteer program a few years ago and Lynden shipped up a trailer load for me free of charge. Lynden shipped up the load from the lower 48 and deliverd it on site.
I used to work with the great people at Lynden Transport. This is a fantastic gesture on their part. Huge thanks to the Military for making this happen. And all of the volunteers from point A to B to Final destination. A big undertaking. Well done!
Tundra, again, clean up the mess in your own back yard before messing with ours. The Yukon flooding is not a new problem.
A big thank you to the military, this was a really cool thing to do & I can only imagine how appreciated it is. Good job being a good neighbor!
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.