Press Release: U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters Releases More Than $871 Million In Emergency Funds To Repair Damaged Roads, 7/23/07 | Press Releases

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Moving the American Economy - U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, D.C., www.dot.gov/affairs/briefing.htm - News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 23, 2007
Contact: Doug Hecox
(202) 366-0660
FHWA 10-07

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters Releases More Than $871 Million In Emergency Funds To Repair Damaged Roads

More than $871 million in additional emergency relief funds is now available to pay for repairs to roads and bridges damaged by a variety of natural emergencies, announced U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters today.

"These funds help communities recover when natural disasters strike our transportation network," Secretary Peters said.

The funds will go to 23 states and certain federal facilities, like parkways, to pay for damages caused by hurricanes, heavy rains and flooding, earthquakes, winter storms and other natural events. $675 million - more than two-thirds of the $871 million - was released yesterday to the states, with the rest awaiting formalized requests which are expected soon.

The Federal Highway Administration, a part of the U.S. DOT, will reimburse states for expenses associated with 33 emergency situations. The funds will be used to reimburse states for fixing or replacing damaged highways and bridges, establishing detours, removing debris and replacing signs, lighting and guardrails.

"Transportation links are vital to local economies and for providing a sense of normalcy to people's daily lives," said FHWA Administrator J. Richard Capka.

The emergency relief funds are part of an emergency appropriations package signed into law by President Bush, to supplement FHWA's emergency relief program. The program is used to reimburse states for certain costs resulting from natural disasters or other emergencies.

A portion of the funding is also available to cover Gulf Coast hurricane repairs, and is in addition to the $2.75 billion provided for Gulf Coast recovery efforts in the 2006 Department of Defense Appropriations Act.

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Editor's note: A table listing the date, location and amount of each emergency relief incident follows. A description of each incident is available by calling the FHWA Office of Public Affairs at 202-366-0660.

Emergency Relief Program Funds - Summary By State

State	Event	Amount
Alabama	August 2005 Hurricane Katrina	$9,800,000
Alaska	August 2006 storms and October 2006 severe storms	$26,290,026
Arizona	January 2005 flooding and July/August 2006 flooding	$21,685,745
California	2005/2006 winter storms	$343,421,542
Colorado	July 2006 flood damage to SH 67	$8,135,982
Connecticut	July 2005 US 7 bridge fire	$3,200,000
Florida	February 2007 tornadoes	$2,251,662
Hawaii	October 2006 earthquake	$35,745,659
Iowa	May/June 2004 storms and flooding and February 2007 winter storm	$1,998,132
Kentucky	April 2007 flooding	$2,715,000
Maine	April 2007 rains and flooding	$1,735,000
Minnesota	March/May 2006 flooding	$753,955
Nevada	December 2005/January 2006 flooding	$694,742
New Hampshire	May 2006 rainfall and flooding	$1,254,444
New York	September 2005 flooding, June 2006 flooding and November 2006 rains and flooding	$23,748,918
North Carolina	September 2006 Tropical Storm Ernesto	$1,700,000
Ohio	September 2004 Hurricane Frances, December 2004 rainfall and flooding, January 2005 rainfall and flooding and July 2006 rainfall and flooding	$85,594,923
Oklahoma	January 2007 ice storm	$4,400,000
Oregon	November 2006 flooding	$33,165,787
Pennsylvania	June 2006 flooding	$10,000,000
Rhode Island	April 2007 rainfall and flooding	$3,508,900
Vermont	August 2004 flooding and December 2005 Elm Street rock slope failure	$856,155
Washington	November 2006 flooding and December 2006 storms	$15,378,993
Federal Lands	Various events	$36,992,505
Total		$675,028,070

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