Carroll County receives money for flood relief

Carroll County has received its first check from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for reimbursement of work performed in the reconstruction of roads and buildings damaged by flooding in late September of last year.

Shortly after the floodwaters began to recede – several days after heavy rains on Sept. 20 and 21 brought never before seen flooding across the region – Carroll County EMA Director Tim Padgett put early damage estimates on public property at more than $22 million, which he said at that time was a conservative estimate. Since then, it’s difficult to say how much the county has spent on rebuilding area infrastructure damaged in the floods because those numbers are still coming in, said County Comptroller Don Johnson, but it has come to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, money which was paid out of the most recent special purpose local option sales tax, all of which the county has applied to FEMA for reimbursement.

Now, the federal money has started coming in, with the county receiving a check last week for $144,000 for work done on Hamp Chappell Road, Horsley Mill Road, South Van Wert Road and Mallard Drive. This initial payment only accounts for work done on a handful of roads, whereas the county had to perform repairs on more than 70 roads following the flooding, and on top of the amount already received by the county, FEMA has approved more than $30 million worth of funding. This money will continue to trickle in over the next year, Johnson said, and it’s hard to say when the county will receive it.

“I have no earthly idea when their time frame is going to be,” Johnson said.

When he does receive the money, Johnson said, he’ll keep it in a special account apart from everything else as to make it easier to reimburse the SPLOST account from which the money was first taken.

County officials said it’s good that Washington is moving forward with paying the county back for the cost of repairs, and they’re optimistic requests for reimbursement will continue to be honored.

“It is my hope that the county continues to be reimbursed by FEMA. County public works has done a superb job in my opinion, and everyone who has been involved in the cleanup of the flooding has done an excellent job,” said Commissioner Ashley Hendrix. “It is my hope that FEMA continues to share the load in rebuilding.”

Commissioner Vicki Anderson agreed, saying she is cautiously optimistic that the federal government will continue aiding the county, but there are some projects that are still outstanding, and it remains uncertain if these will be funded. Specifically, she said, FEMA has expressed reluctance to pay for the repairs to the Twin Lakes Dam near Villa Rica, which could possibly shift the burden to the county, potentially costing as much as $1 million.

“I feel hopeful they will continue to receive reimbursement,” Anderson said. “Every area, there are requirements you have to document what was damaged and what you’ve done to fix it. Hopefully, we documented what needs to be done, and now we’ll wait and see.”