DOT Gives West Virginia $5.7 Million for Emergency Road Repair After Floods
“West Virginia is a key part of the East Coast’s transportation network — making our efforts to open their roads and stabilize their bridges a national priority," Foxx said in a statement. “We will do everything we can to help repair and reopen these routes quickly and safely, because the well-being of West Virginians and their economy is important to us all.”
In what some meteorologists called a “once in a thousand years” storm, roads and bridges in 44 of West Virginia’s 56 counties were deluged. The affected area spans more than 200 miles from the southern borders with Kentucky and Virginia to the northern one with Pennsylvania.
According to the National Weather Service, the state’s third-deadliest flooding event caused the Elkview River to crest at more than 33 feet, rising 27 feet in a single day, causing large mudslides and rockslides, roadway erosion, culvert and bridge failures and the closure of many routes.
“These emergency funds will play a key role in helping workers start making repairs statewide,” FHWA Administrator Gregory Nadeau said in a statement. “We want to ensure that everyone in these 44 counties has access to safe roads and bridges.”
The $5.7 million is the first installment of what the FHWA estimates will be more than $20 million in such funds for West Virginia.
