BENTONVILLE -- Nearly a year after flooding struck Northwest Arkansas and other parts of the state, Benton and Washington county officials say they are still working on a couple of bridge repair projects.
Benton County officials identified more than 300 damage sites and estimated repair costs at $2.9 million. Washington County officials said their damage repair estimate was $3 million to $3.5 million.
Disaster recovery
A total of 31 Arkansas counties were declared disaster areas in the weeks following the flooding that began April 29, 2017, and continued through May 19. Both the state and federal governments issued disaster declarations for the affected areas. The federal disaster declaration made Benton and Washington counties eligible for reimbursement of up to 75 percent of repair costs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Source: Staff report
In Benton County, officials said repairs to Snavely Bridge have been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but the scale of the project, with a price tag of more than $1 million, means the money has to be included in an appropriation bill passed by Congress.
County Judge Barry Moehring said he believes the money will come.
"There's not a specific line item for Snavely Bridge," Moehring said. "There's an appropriation bill with FEMA money in it."
Moehring said the county also received FEMA approval to go beyond restoring Snavely Bridge to its pre-flood conditions.
"It has flooded before, been repaired and flooded again," he said. "We're hoping to have a more robust solution to the problem there."
Washington County is still waiting for work on a pair of roads damaged in the 2017 flood along with a bridge that was damaged in flooding in 2015.
Brian Lester, county attorney, said Washington County has received approval of new plans to repair Dye Creek Bridge, which was damaged in 2015. Work is pending on Blue Springs Road, where an 8-foot culvert washed out in 2017 and has been replaced by a temporary one-lane bridge. Lester said repairs to Blue Springs Road and to Brush Creek Road, which was also damaged in the 2017 flooding, should be done by the spring of 2019.
John Luther, head of Washington County's Department of Emergency Management, said the response from both state and federal agencies was prompt and helpful.
"The FEMA folks got in here and went out in the field with us, the state folks got in here and went out into the field with us," Luther said.
The recovery process included assistance for individuals and businesses that sustained damage in the flooding as well.
The Sunshine School and & Development Center in Rogers suffered damage. Chelle Phillips, the school's communication and events coordinator, said last year water entered several classrooms and caused about $7,000 in damage to floor coverings, bookcases and other items not covered by insurance. The school was able to raise $7,000 through donations. Phillips said recently the school is back to normal.
"It's all great, and we're very busy," she said.
Robin Smith, a FEMA communications official with the Region 6 office in Denton, Texas, said the federal assistance for the 2017 flooding went through the normal processes. Smith said she understands it may seem slow to people unfamiliar with the process.
"The reality of the process is that we reimburse for qualified repairs," Smith said. "There is an extensive amount of reporting and paperwork that has to be done. The county has to assess the damage and detail the costs of everything involved in the repair work. They have to figure the cost of trucks to haul away debris, the cost of trucks to haul in fill material, the cost of gas for the trucks and drivers for the trucks.
"The county reports all that to the state, and the state sends it to FEMA. The biggest thing to understand is it's a reimbursement process. People think FEMA is paying for the work when we're reimbursing for a part of it and that goes through the states," she said.
NW News on 04/09/2018
