West Virginia gets $7.3 million in federal funding for flood repairs

Updated Dec 17, 2015

The roads and bridges across West Virginia took a hit earlier this year when heavy rain caused severe damage, but the federal government is stepping in to help the state handle the bill.

According to WOWK-TV, the West Virginia Department of Transportation was granted $7.3 million to pay for repairs done across the state when roads and bridges were damaged, with some being washed away. WVDOT has already completed most of the work, but the funding helps pay off what the state had to pay out of pocket earlier this year.

“That’s what the $7 million really reflects, it’s just a reimbursement of the work we’ve already done,” WVDOT’s Brent Walker said. “That money is put back into the state road fund and can be used on what they were meant to be used for which can be any number of thing.”

Walker said the money only covers about 75 percent of the total that WVDOT paid to fix roads and bridges in 19 of the state’s 55 counties. As Walker said, the money can be put towards many different projects, but it’s not yet known where the $7.3 million will be allocated.