Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray was joined by other top staffers Tuesday, July 18, to give members of the General Assembly’s Interim Joint Transportation Committee an update on recovery efforts following the record eastern Kentucky flooding nearly a year ago.
Gray testified there were a number of challenges faced by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) employees and contractors. “It goes beyond the immediate issues of debris removal and infrastructure damage. An enormous part of the challenge is providing those who were affected a way to rebuild on land that’s elevated enough to afford them a measure of security against future floods.”
He noted that a lot of work still lies ahead. “To paraphrase what Winston Churchill said, ‘It’s not the beginning of the end, but it may be the end of the beginning.’”
Deputy State Highway Engineer John Moore told lawmakers that at the request of Kentucky Emergency Management officials, KYTC led the way in debris removal, which was accomplished in three phases: the right-of-way phase, the waterway phase and the extended right-of-way-phase, the latter of which is still ongoing.
“The right-of-way debris, which includes items residents were able to move to the right-of-way, began in the days following the flood,” Moore stated. “Contractors collected almost 160,000 tons of debris. The waterways phase saw contractors remove 330,000 tons of debris. This spring, the extended right-of-way debris removal began, and is expected to finish up within a month.”
Moore testified that total debris removal costs exceeded $200 million, some of which is being paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
Infrastructure has been another important aspect of the recovery effort, according to Moore. Over 1,100 bridges were inspected throughout the affected region, and 166 were impacted, ranging from slight damage to being washed away. While repair work is underway or completed on most of them, there are still 12 for which KYTC has not yet issued a contract.
More than 500 roads were also damaged, including landslides, roadway slips and a few that were washed out.
“I’m happy to say that all washouts have been fully restored,” Moore noted. “We are still working on the roadway slips, which will continue for a number of years to come.”
