Feds provide funding of $29.4 million to California for flood repairs

The Federal Highway Administration is providing $29.4 million in “quick release” emergency funding to California in the wake of recent severe storms, which caused flooding and hundreds of mudslides across the state.

The FHWA says the funds are a “down payment on the repair work needed as a result of multiple storms and flooding events.”

The funds are immediately available to the California Department of Transportation and four federal land management agencies. From the total, $10.2 million will be allocated to Caltrans to help repair federal-aid highways maintained by local agencies.

“These extreme storms have disrupted millions of lives and livelihoods, with serious damage to key infrastructure that Californians count on,” US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “The emergency funding we are announcing today will help California remove debris, rebuild roads, restore vital transportation corridors, and strengthen its resilience in the face of future extreme weather events.”

California officials estimate that as many as 40 of the 58 counties in the state were affected by the flooding of rivers and roadways. Despite the catastrophic damage, DAT Freight and Analytics reported that while traffic has certainly been slowed due to the storms, the flooding did not close the state’s key interstates, major highways or ports.

“The Federal Highway Administration is working closely with Caltrans and federal land management agency personnel in California as they assess the damage caused by this catastrophic wave of storms,” Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt said in a statement. “These quick-release funds will help get the roads, bridges and highways that residents and workers rely on back up and running again and also be better equipped to withstand future deluge events.”

According to the FHWA, “Caltrans has assessed initial damage at 87 locations in 37 counties, and assessments are ongoing.”

The bulk of the funds, $19.2 million, will go to other federal agencies, including the National Park Service, US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Reclamation. Those funds will be used to repair federal land areas damaged by the severe storms.

The funding comes from the agency’s Emergency Relief program, which provides money to states and other federal agencies for “the repair or reconstruction of federal-aid highways and roads on federal lands which have suffered serious damage as a result of natural disasters or catastrophic failures from an external cause.” LL

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