US Transportation Dept. To Use Emergency Relief Program To Address Flood Damaged Roads

WASHINGTON, D.C. (PRESS RELEASE) – U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today announced that the Mississippi Department of Transportation has been approved to receive $1.0 million to begin restoring federal-aid highways damaged in recent floods.

The emergency relief funding dependents on President Obama’s approval of the federal disaster declaration sought by Governor Phil Bryant on Wednesday.

Members of the Mississippi congressional delegation have encouraged the President to approve the state’s request for federal emergency aid.

“The damage caused by flooding and severe storms this month is going to take time to fix.  The Federal Highway Administration is ready to help the state repair transportation infrastructure, and I hope that this funding will be put to work soon,” said Cochran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“I am pleased that emergency highway funding has been made available to assist the state in rebuilding our roads damaged earlier this month by historic floods,” Wicker said.

The Federal Highway Administration funding would reimburse the state for emergency repairs to restore essential traffic and to repair damaged federal highways, roads on federal lands and associated infrastructure throughout the state.

This work is expected to entail stabilizing and repairing affected roadway embankments, rebuilding damaged roadways, and repairing replacing damaged structures.