Residents of Carbon, Park, and Stillwater (MT) Counties, WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
On June 14, 2022, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte declared a statewide disaster due to severe flooding from rapid snowmelt and heavy rains. Communities in south-central Montana, the state's Yellowstone Country region, were particularly hard hit. Homes were destroyed, roads and bridges were washed away, local communities were without basic water and power services, and thousands of Montanan's had their economic livelihoods devastated. On June 16th, President Joseph Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Montana, releasing federal assistance to supplement tribal, state, and local recovery efforts. Individual Assistance (IA) was made available to eligible individuals and households with losses or needs not covered by insurance in Carbon, Park, Stillwater, and Yellowstone Counties. Public Assistance (PA) was activated to aid public and certain private non-profit entities in Carbon, Flathead, Park, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Treasure, and Yellowstone Counties for certain emergency services and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged public facilities.
Where you stand in disaster response, recovery, and resiliency necessarily depends on where you sit. The Yellowstone River Flood Study seeks to uncover the differential understandings and experiences of various groups within a community during and after a disaster. In addition, we hope that by listening to and learning from individuals and communities, we can help articulate what is necessary for local disaster resiliency to disaster managers and government leaders. In the end, the Yellowstone River Flood Study is designed to co-create and share new understandings of the human and social dimensions of disaster response, recovery, and resiliency.