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FEMA assessing rain-related damage in Walton
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/local/fema-assessing-rain-related-damage-in-walton-1.193278
Federal emergency management officials arrived in Walton County on Monday to begin assessing damages from last month’s flooding.
The county sustained at least $11 million in damages to roads and infrastructure in July alone, and the federal government has agreed to provide funds for the repairs.
“We’ve been able to make some temporary repairs, but to get the permanent work going this is the first step,” said Russell Beaty, the county’s assistant emergency management director.
Since the major flood over the July Fourth weekend, the area has had even more flood damage.
FEMA officials made one of their first stops in Blue Mountain Beach on County Road 30A, part of which washed away when Big Redfish Lake flooded after a heavy rainstorm on Aug. 17.
It has been closed to traffic ever since.
Buddy Wright with the county’s public works office said they were aware of some problems on that part of CR 30A in early July, including the failure of some culverts that regulate the lake’s water flow.
The most visible damage did not occur until the most recent storm, though, Wright said.
If FEMA officials agree that the cause of the damage began in July, the county may be able to use some of the already approved federal funding to repair CR 30A, one of the costliest fixes, Beaty said.
Public works staff have to wait for the water from the lake to recede before they can finish assessing damage, Wright said. They do not know when the road might reopen.