The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department said it has received federal emergency relief funds totaling $14.2 million to fix damage to the state road system from a series of severe storms, tornadoes and flooding that struck the state in late 2015 and early 2016.
The funding provided by the Federal Highway Administration's emergency relief program will be used to repair "extensive" pavement damage, erosion at "many" bridges and culverts and shoulder and embankment erosion on "numerous" highways, as well as landslides, the department said.
The money will go toward repairs to damage documented in 52 of the state's 75 counties during a period between Dec. 23, 2015, and Jan. 22, 2016.
They include the following counties that Gov. Asa Hutchinson proclaimed eligible for disaster relief on Dec. 28, 2015: Benton, Calhoun, Carroll, Drew, Franklin, Logan, Madison, Ouachita, Perry, Polk, Searcy and Washington counties.
Hutchinson later modified the proclamation to include Baxter, Chicot, Crawford, Jackson, Jefferson, Little River, Marion, Montgomery, Sebastian, Bradley, Clay, Desha, Faulkner, Greene, Johnson, Randolph, Scott, Sevier, White, Yell, Boone, Izard, Lawrence, Monroe, Pike, Newton and Stone counties.
A subsequent proclamation by President Barack Obama also included Boone, Bradley, Clay, Dallas, Greene, Independence, Marion, Mississippi, Newton, Pike, Randolph, Stone, and Woodruff counties.
On Dec. 10, 2016, Congress provided $1 billion in supplemental Emergency Relief funds to address a growing backlog of emergency relief funds needed nationwide.
Metro on 04/12/2017