Last week's storm blew down a tree that crashed onto the roof of Anny and Dan Newport's home just upland from the cemetery, causing an estimated $40,000 in damages as the tree broke through the roof and into the attic.
The borough is taking inventory of losses in the community to determine the total amount of damages for a possible disaster declaration after an unexpected windstorm on Nov. 30 knocked out power.
After initial power restoration to much of the community, it took nearly 48 hours to restore electricity to 90 households after the storm snapped off Southeast Alaska Power Agency poles just south of City Park.
"I was outside ready to pull the generator crank when the porch (light) came on!!!" wrote Mya DeLong early Thursday morning in the Wrangell Community Group on Facebook, when power to those remaining homes was restored. She lives at 3.5 Mile on Zimovia Highway.
The borough has asked anyone who suffered property damage to their home, business or boat in the windstorm to submit a damage report and photos to City Hall, where officials will compile those reports with the borough's own damage bills for consideration of a disaster declaration.
Anny Newport, who lives above the newer cemetery on the mountain side of the highway, just south of City Park, said she had a tree land on her house. "The tree broke through the roof and into the attic area, there is significant damage," Newport said. She said a contractor estimated $40,000 for repairs.
They're going to have to get building supplies from down south, Newport said, so it's going to take a long time. The tree is cut up and a tarp is protecting the house to keep water and snow out.
"My husband said it was like a bomb," Newport said. "The house was full of static. The cat freaked out. I'm sitting here in my art room - I have gogs of beads. There were beads all over. ... I opened a cabinet and the jars fell off."
Newport said their power was restored, and she and her husband are able to stay inside. "We have a wood stove in here. We won't have a problem."
City Park, which the borough closed after a pavilion was damaged and powerlines and trees went down, was still cordoned off as of Monday, said Kim Lane, borough clerk.
Parks and Recreation Director Kate Thomas said she met with Public Works Director Tom Wetor and Capital Facilities Director Amber Al-Haddad on site Monday to see where they will need additional services from contractors.
"We are seeking professional input from local contractors to figure out the best way to remove the trees," Thomas said. "There are five trees that need to come down. Three of those trees I would identify as technical in nature, to remove from the site."
The department heads are aiming to complete the work by the end of next week. The wood waste will be made available to the public for firewood, she said.
The borough also needs to fill holes in the ground, especially the ones next to the road. A lot of those uprooted trees left gaping wounds in the forest floor, Thomas said, so those will be filled with organic material. The shelter that collapsed will need to be demolished, and then parks and recreation will look at building a new shelter.
Dorianne Sprehe, of the borough's emergency operations center, will put together an incident report on the storm, Lane said, to be included in the packet for the Dec. 14 assembly meeting. It'll be a post-action report on what went right, what went wrong, and how to be better prepared in the event of an emergency again.
"The main focus is on communications," Lane said. GCI phone service and internet went down for several hours the night of the storm, and internet service was spotty for a few days. At one point, the hospital could be heard calling over the radio scanner, advising that radio was its only form of communication.
This Saturday, the line crew is going to be working on a cracked power pole at the Wood Street feeder near the entrance to Wrangell Medical Center, across from Alpine Mini Mart. Wrangell Cooperative Association's office, on the corner where the power lines on that pole went down, had power restored three days after the storm, tribal administrator Esther Reese said.
"We have to replace that pole, so we'll isolate that section and it will only affect the hospital," Municipal Light & Power Superintendent Rod Rhoades said. "During the repair the hospital will go on generators." Rhoades said the repair will take about four to six hours.
All other feeder lines are working in town, Rhoades said.
Wrangell Island Tree Service got to work the day after the storm, clearing downed trees by Wood Street at the feeder near the hospital.
Mayor Steve Prysunka asked the community via a Facebook post on the borough's page to submit stories, less than 500 words, to the borough about how people came together to support and help each other through the storm.
The mayor will read some of the stories at the Dec. 14 borough assembly meeting. The stories that are not read aloud will be published on the borough's web page and Facebook page. "We want to draw attention to how the community came together to help each other and city workers through this tough time. Also, a special thank you to all city staff and contractors will also take place at this meeting," the mayor's notice stated.
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