The Federal Highway Administration recently issued $4.575 million in “quick release” Emergency Relief funds to the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to offset costs of repair work for roads, trails, parking areas, and other infrastructure damaged by floods caused by Tropical Storm Hilary in Death Valley National Park and other western federal lands in August.
[Above photo by the National Park Service]
FHWA noted in a statement that its Emergency Relief program provides funding to states, territories, tribes, and federal land management agencies for highways and bridges damaged by natural disasters or catastrophic events.
Such “quick release” Emergency Relief funds are an initial resource installment to help restore essential transportation.
Additional funds needed to repair damages on the federal lands affected by Tropical Storm Hilary will be supported by the Emergency Relief program through further nationwide funding allocations, the agency said.
Tropical Storm Hilary’s record rainfall in late August resulted in flash flooding and debris flow across several states, including California and Nevada, for several days. Within Death Valley National Park, the flash flooding damaged numerous transportation facilities including roads, trails and parking areas, and resulted in roads being buckled or completely destroyed, bridges impacted, road surfacing lost, and damage caused by significant debris and erosion.
This tranche of FHWA emergency funding will also be used for repair work at the Manzanar Historic Site, San Bernardino National Forest, Inyo National Forest, and Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge in California.
That emergency fiscal relief will also support flood damage projects in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada to repair transportation facilities, road segments, and collapsed culverts.