Flood waters cause $500 million in damage to Colorado roads

Residents and officials in Colorado are finally able to see the damage flooding has caused to their roads.

For the first time since flooding began in Colorado last week, rain in the state stopped Tuesday, The Denver Post reported.

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The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) noted Tuesday that flooding has subsided in most areas, allowing the agency to begin making repairs. CDOT issued a request for contracting proposals yesterday and plans to select crews by Friday. The agency said work will begin next week.

According to a report from NPR, the cessation of rain and flooding has revealed immense damage to the state’s roadways, which will likely cost up to $500 million to repair.

KUNC, a Northern Colorado-based NPR station, reported that an exact figure should be announced by the end of this week.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) made $5 million in emergency funds available to Colorado on Friday, and, according the the KUNC report, more federal funding is on the way. There is no word yet about how the remaining funds will be raised.

Residents from across the state are reporting on road conditions, noting washed-away roads, floating debris and more.

Mark Benjamin, a resident of Bellview, Colorado, told NPR on Tuesday that he has been transporting supplies to his neighbors by zip line. He also noted that the phone lines that are usually buried beneath the roads are now visible.

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KUNC reporter Grace Hood posted a video clip to Vine of the washed-away Highway 34 near Big Thompson Canyon. Hood noted that “piles of wooden debris laced with flip flops, prescription pill bottles and Styrofoam” littered the area, NPR reported.

While the flood waters were still flowing earlier this week, Boulder, Colorado, residents Renee Golobic and Bryan Ortiz sent Better Roads first-hand footage of roads that had been washed away.

Watch the videos above to see the damage flooding caused and to see a backhoe loader working to clear a road.