Clif Knight

Hartselle Enquirer

A survey team, representing FEMA, SBA (Small Business Administration), and state and county EMA offiicals visited Morgan County January 7 to assess damage from storm water runoff during a 7-inch rain Christmas Day.

A spokesperson for the Morgan County EMA said a cumulative damage total was not made available, and it may be two to three week before FEMA makes a decision on whether or not Alabama qualifies as a federal disaster area.

The state would need a minimum of  $6.7 million in damages to qualify for federal disaster assistance.

District 4 led the county in reportable damage with two road washouts.

Commissioner Greg Abercrombie said his workers pent three days and used 50 dump truck loads of rock to fill a 50-ft. washout on Hulaco Road.

“The road is passable but far from being finished,” Abercombie said. “We still have to do some concrete work on the shoulders and resurface the base.”

He said another washout has been repaired on Bryant Road and work continues on several culvert washouts.

District 2 Commissioner Randy Vest reported he had three roads with culvert washouts and 11 roads that had to be closed because of floodwater. He estimated damage at $30,000.

“Even though the water has receded, we haven’t had enough rain-free days to dry out the road beds,” he said. “We won’t know the full extent of the damage until five or six month down the road.”

In District 3, about 50 roads were under water at some point during the daylong rainstorm, according to Commissioner Don Stisher. Nevertheless, damage was limited to about $20,000.

“We expected our graveled roads to be beat up but they came out of the rain in pretty good shape,” Stisher pointed out. “All we had to do was remove the trash and use a grader to shape them up.”

“We did have some shoulder damage but it was not major,” he added.

Stisher said Lacon Trade Day was under water and had property damage as did a few homes in the Town of Falkville.

District 1 Commissioner Jeff Clark reported some shoulder damage to roads in his district with damages totaling $10,000. I figure most the damage we had we’ll fix at our own expense.

“The biggest problem we had was keeping barricades up on roads with high water,” Clark stated. “No sooner than we’d installed one, someone would come along behind us and take it down.”