FEMA External Affairs DR-1852-ME Video transcript 'Norridgewock Duration: 03:51 INTRO SLIDE: In July of 2009, after months of rain and flooding, a federal disaster was declared in Maine. Communities worked with FEMA officials to recover from damages. VIDEO: Shot of Norridgewock town seal. Robert F. Higgins Sr., Emergency Management Director, Somerset Country, speaks on camera. AUDIO, ROBERT HIGGINS: The town of Norridgewock had a landslide that ended up being a double landslide on the roadway into the river. The landslides of Maine are unique. VIDEO: Shot of the river fringed with yellow flowers. Shot of muddy banks of river. Norridgewock town manager Michelle M. Flewelling speaks on camera. Shot of the river flowing through the dam. Shot of the sandy banks of river. Shot of water ripples. Shot of the sandy banks of the river, ending with a shot of the bank with fallen trees. AUDIO, MICHELLE FLEWELLING: It probably started raining here, in the central Maine region where Norridgewock is located, about the middle of May and really didn???t stop until probably about the beginning of August. The rain was such that it kept the river levels up at the sandy river so high that it ended up eroding the bank, which undermined the trees, which took the bank with it. VIDEO: FEMA Project Specialist Galen Costigan walks down a pebbly road along the river. AUDIO, GALEN COSTIGAN: From what we assessed yesterday, taking a look at it, it???s probably approximately 25 feet from the road level down to the stream level at this time. So that water came up 20-25 feet. VIDEO: Panning shot of the soil along the river banks, ending with a shot of Costigan standing up the bank. More shots of the river. A truck drives down the road, then on camera: Galen Costigan. AUDIO, COSTIGAN: The soils here are basically clay-type soils and we just had a big fault, and it slid into the river. There was cracking out in the roadway itself, so stress cracks, which leads us to believe that this place is in danger of maybe having more damage done. VIDEO: Car drives by the sandy road. Picturesque view of a farm then on camera: Flewelling. AUDIO, FLEWELLING: The sandy river road is important to the town. It connects a large number of farms; it is a school bus-traveled route. VIDEO: Shot of a faded red wheelbarrow. View of a farm building, then shots of a cornfield along a dirt road. Shot of the shallow part of the river, then Flewelling on camera. Video continues with a shot of a bulldozer moving dirt and construction workers working along a culvert by the road. Bulldozer moves more dirt on the road and workers sweep dirt on the road. AUDIO, FLEWELLING: Because it is a farming area, there???s a lot of corn harvesting that needs to go on, as well as hay crops that need to be moved. The weather, as it has been in the last three months, has resulted in more work for our town???s public works crew. We have a work crew of about five gentlemen. They do a great deal of work, which is in relation to ditching, culverts and brush removal and cleanup and disrepair and these events have caused extreme delays in their regular scheduled work. VIDEO: Officials sit at tables, listening to the PA briefing. MEMA Public Assistance Officer Ron Loomin makes a power point presentation during the briefing. AUDIO, RON LOOMIN: Okay we???ll go over the contents of your packet first. VIDEO: Meeting attendees listen to presentation, then on camera: AUDIO, HIGGINS: The public assistance disaster briefings ??? it helps these rural communities really understand the paperwork that???s necessary. VIDEO: Loomin continues with the presentation. Attendees at meeting listen. AUDIO, LOOMIN: The project worksheet initiates the funding, which is appropriated to the state. Once we get the project worksheet, we send the money to you -- the applicant -- the 75 percent share immediately. VIDEO: Robert Higgins on camera: AUDIO, HIGGINS: Come to these briefings. It provides the step-to-step process. VIDEO: Loomin continues with presentation. Members listen, ending with Flewelling on camera: AUDIO, LOOMIN: Okay ??? factors of eligibility. You must have all these factors. First, you must be eligible as an applicant. AUDIO FLEWELLING: The PA briefing the other day was very helpful. It provided me with a lot of information that I need to have going through this application process for the first time. VIDEO: Costigan on camera: AUDIO, COSTIGAN: Did you have any emergency ??? remember we talked about emergency protective measures yesterday. VIDEO: Flewelling listens to the presentation at the briefing. Costigan speaks at the kickoff meeting. Close shot of applicant filling out a form. Flewelling speaks with Costigan, ending with Flewelling on camera. AUDIO, FLEWELLING: The kickoff meeting after the PA briefing provided even more information, more in-depth information, and we also had the opportunity to have some one-on-on time with the representative from FEMA, to help answer and additional questions that we may have had. VIDEO: Costigan talks with Flewelling and look at documents at the kickoff meeting, ending with Costigan on camera. AUDIO, COSTIGAN: The questions she asked was, you know, what is eligible, what can we do, can we move the road onto the other side and get reimbursed for it? I tried to answer all her questions. She needed to know what she needed for documentation to come up with an idea of what we???re going to do to fix it, write up a project worksheet. They???re going to give me the bills that they???ve incurred already to do protective measures here. VIDEO: Meeting attendees listen at the briefing. AUDIO, LOOMIN: In the future, if we ever have a lot of debris and a lot of it???s on private property, what you want to do is have them bring it curbside for pickup, okay. VIDEO: As briefing ensues, attendees listen, then Flewelling on camera, ending with Flewelling and Costigan shaking hands. AUDIO, FLEWELLING: I???m very optimistic that the town of Norridgewock and the state of Maine and FEMA can work together. If the rest of this process goes anywhere near the beginning of this process has, I have no doubt that we???ll be able to come together for this and find out the best possible solution and take care of our issues. FINAL SLATE: For more information, go to www.fema.gov.