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April 11, 2011 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson said he is pleased that the U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded more than $7 million to the Nebraska Department of Roads to help repair roads and bridges damaged by heavy storms and flooding last summer.
“After getting a firsthand view of the flood damage last June and listening to people whose lives were directly affected, I’m glad Nebraskans will receive federal resources to help with the repair and rebuilding efforts,” Senator Nelson said.
Following the severe storms and flooding in June 2010, Nelson toured communities along the Elkhorn River and met with Norfolk-area civic leaders, business owners and county officials to hear how they felt the federal government could best assist local recovery efforts.
“People made clear to me that they were really hurting from the destruction left behind by the floods – extraordinary damage was done to homes, businesses, roads and bridges – so I pushed federal agencies to act quickly on Nebraska’s request for disaster relief. This funding assistance announcement will be welcome news to Nebraskans as they continue to recover from very expensive damage to a wide area of our state,” Nelson said.
The Emergency Relief (ER) program within the U.S. Department of Transportation was established for the repair or reconstruction of federal-aid roads and bridges that have suffered serious damage as a result of natural disasters or catastrophic failures from an external cause.
In June and July 2010, severe weather caused flooding damage to roadways that qualify for the ER program in the following Nebraska counties: Antelope, Blaine, Boone, Brown, Burt, Cedar, Cherry, Cheyenne, Colfax, Cuming, Dixon, Dodge, Garfield, Harlan, Holt, Knox, Lincoln, Madison, McPherson, Otoe, Platte, Sioux, Stanton, and Thomas.
The Nebraska Department of Roads will determine how the federal aid is divided among those counties.
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