BOTHELL, Wash. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided $5,913,206 in federal funding to the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium for damages sustained to the Consortium’s administrative building, parking lot, and the Healthy Communities Building because of the Alaska Earthquake in November 2018.
The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is a nonprofit Tribal health organization designed to meet the needs of more than 180,000 Alaska Native and American Indian people living in Alaska. The Consortium is Alaska’s second-largest health employer with more than 3,000 employees. The Healthy Communities Building is staffed by nurse practitioners, certified medical assistants, and medical clerks. The facility, open 365 days a year, serves as a walk-in clinic for patients of all ages who have an illness or injury that requires immediate care. In addition, the clinic provides vaccinations, medication refills, physicals, and testing.
The slab grade flooring in both buildings was damaged due to earthquake-related liquefaction, causing extensive damage to the interior, including flooring, doors, elevators, pipes, circuit boards, control panels, ceiling tiles, work stations, and sheetrock as well as cracks in exterior components, such as siding, sidewalks, curbs and asphalt in the parking lot.
In addition to the visible damages, a geotechnical engineer found that the concrete slab under both buildings was vulnerable to future earthquakes due to the very loose to medium density fill, prompting the Consortium to seek FEMA’s 406 mitigation funds. Section 406 grants fund mitigation measures in conjunction with the repair of the disaster-damaged facilities to directly reduce the potential of future, similar disaster damages to the eligible facility. The Hazard Mitigation proposal for both facilities involves drilling through the liquefaction layer of soil to the dense material below to anchor the slab of both facilities. If a similar earthquake occurs, the liquefaction will not transfer to the slab and cause damages or safety concerns.
The total cost to restore the facilities back to pre-disaster condition is $7,884.274.86 with a 75 percent federal cost share of $5,913,206.15.
Public Assistance funds are awarded directly to Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to make disbursements to state agencies, local, and tribal jurisdictions that incurred costs. This funding is provided at 75 percent federal share. To learn more about the Public Assistance program, including 406 mitigation grants, visit fema.gov/assistance/public.