One of the recurring themes of the recovery efforts in Alaska was survivors and their neighbors who were heavily involved in the rebuilding of their communities.

David Andrews:  We try to hold off on the assistance as long as possible, we actually want to make sure that this does in fact exceed the state���s capabilities.  So it took a little time, but once we actually had boots on the ground and saw what was going on it was pretty apparent that this would exceed the state���s capabilities and we actually altered our normal procedures and the governor made an immediate request for federal assistance.  

Horace Smoke:  It was a tough decision on my part, I had to make that decision, because it was getting late to winter, and I knew I had to make a decision for the people who needed their homes back before winter, the ones with children and the elderly, so that was my goal to help them first.  

Don Mann:  I was told this by someone, they told me to act like you���re not getting nothing, to take care of yourself, do everything that you can that you know to do, to save everything you can.  There���s not any immediate help that comes you know other than friends and relatives to begin with, it takes time.

Reba DeWilde:  I���m just the one that���s around I usually talk to the people that���s getting the houses, what they want, what size they want, where they want their windows how they want their house facing and all that.  And I try to stick around here as much as I could so if they had any questions I could tell them.

Kathy Roberts:  And we stayed with the house until ��� I just had rubber boots on ��� but I didn���t know where to walk, where the high ground is and so that���s when I left.  My husband and my boy had their hip boots on and we stayed until we couldn���t, it just kept coming up.    Build a fire to dry the house out, and we never left, you know ever since day one we���ve been coming to our house every day, we never left it you know, we wanted to get it dried out where we can work on it.

Andy Bassich:  One of the hardest things for me to do in this entire event, was, when the water was up and the ice was all around us and the house was in a raging torrent and the boats were rocking and the dogs were screaming and I thought ���well we���re going to make it through this okay��� and then when it started to subside, my girlfriend was really shaken up and I was really worried about her.  And I think personally had I been alone I wouldn���t have asked for help.

Don Mann:  I didn���t want them to come in and do anything especially for me, I wanted them to come in and help me, help myself.

Of the 386 individuals and households approved as eligible for Housing Assistance, 294 repaired their homes without any assistance from volunteer organizations.