Hoopa tribal officials predict it will take six to eight months before Hoopa roads are up to par after the New Year’s storm caused significant damage.

The estimate to fix just 108 miles of the 600 miles of roads on Hoopa lands is about $8.5 million, said Hoopa Tribal Roads Department Director Jacque Hostler.

“The tribe is in the process of determining the cost of all the damages to the reservation,” Hostler said, which includes the water system and public utilities.

Hostler said the brunt of the storms that damaged Hoopa lands hit on Dec. 30 and 31 and continued with the heavy rain for another week after that.

“And we continued to see things slide (such as mudslides) and move until the end of January,” Hostler said. “No one was injured.”

Hostler said recent sunny weather has helped workers with cleanup efforts.

“(Since the storms), we’ve been doing emergency repairs to restore access to main arteries blown out and emergency exit routes off the reservation,” Hostler said. “We’ve also been working very closely with county and Caltrans departments in providing materials and equipment and assistance as needed in their efforts to restore damaged roads.

“There are four to five county roads through the reservation, and Highway 96 is under Caltrans’ jurisdiction.”

Hostler said the roads in the department are in the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Indian Reservation Roads system.

“There are approximately 108 miles on the IRR system directly in my department and that’s where we’re coming up with the $8.5 million (figure),” Hostler said. “In addition, there are the mountain roads (used for timber and logging) and (estimated costs to fix those lands) are about $2 million and that’s under the Forestry Department.”

Hostler said monetary relief is being sought — which can be an “arduous process” — through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Emergency Relief for Federally Owned Roads.

He said FEMA and ERFO officials are scheduled to be in Hoopa within the next two weeks.

Hostler said there were “very good coordination efforts” between the tribal chairman office and council and other entities, including emergency personnel.

“We have a very strong infrastructure in Hoopa and the response was well-organized (considering the storms) hit on New Year’s Eve, when people are out of town or not expecting an emergency,” Hostler said. “Hoopa was able to take care of its own residents and handle the emergency very well. It was a combination of everyone working together.”

Hostler added that the road crews were out into the early hours of the morning for several days following the emergency.

“And John Marshall, the superintendent for the roads crew, has got an excellent staff,” Hostler said. “They all worked hard to keep things open and addressed each emergency as it arose.”

“We’re going to be working all year long on emergency sites and if the funding kicks in (within) the next few months, we could be finished in the next six to eight months,” Hostler said. “Once ERFO and FEMA commit (the) dollars, we can start moving through the process.”

In a news release, Hoopa Tribal Chairman Clifford Lyle Marshall said that $128,000 in emergency assistance was given to out to individuals for food and other essentials.

“When the power went out, many people lost refrigerated food and it became difficult for grocery supplies to make it into the reservation,” he stated. “We are home to Hupa, Yurok and Karuk tribal members, in addition to
non-native people. We provided assistance to anyone who needed it.”

The news release stated that the Hoopa reservation, consisting of approximately 3,000 people, “is just like any small city in California,” providing services to its citizens.

“We provide police, fire, public works, education and other social services just like other municipalities,” the release stated. “These are vital services that go to all people on our reservation.”

While waiting for aid, Marshall said, “our tribal government will keep its doors open to all people of the reservation who need emergency services.”