Federal dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency totaling $1.37 million are going towards the reconstruction of a road in Clay County.
Crane Branch Road was one of the roads in the county destroyed during the eastern Kentucky flooding in 2022. FEMA is providing around three quarters of the total cost to repair ditches, embankments, shoulders, culverts and asphalt. The total repair cost equals a little more than $1.8 million.
Rodney Wagers is the Director of Clay County Emergency Management. He says fixing the damaged roads is a major priority.
“There's a whole area other than just that road,” Wagers said. “I mean, the whole community down there has been devastated by multiple disasters, and this money will be a big, big help to get those roads back in working order.”
Wagers is also the director of the Clay County Ambulance Service. From his perspective, his teams will be able to better respond to people in crises.
“The money that's gonna be spent there will be a big help to us too, being able to get access to people in emergency situations, so the fire departments and the ambulances can rescue those people,” Wagers said. “That's an immediate need for hospital care, or fires at your homes, or things like that, emergency situations.”
This also comes as FEMA recently announced $800 million in available money for flood mitigation assistance grants nationwide.
There is not yet a timetable for when the road would be repaired.
