Heavy rains the last couple of days have damaged several roads in southern Iowa’s Taylor County. County Emergency Management coordinator Mick Ware says there was too much rain for the county roads to handle. He says they recorded nine-point-seven inches of rain in the southeast part of the county, mainly in the Blockton and Athelstan area, which Ware says backed up in the ditches and there are now six roads closed.
Ware says the rain washed the gravel layer right off the roads. Ware says the roads are still packed hard, and the county engineers are trying to get some gravel back on the roads before cars travel on them and cause ruts. Ware says they’re still trying to determine the dollar amount of damage.
Ware says they’re trying to put together some estimates of how many miles of roads and ton of rock will be needed. Ware says it will be several thousand tons of rock to do the job, and some of the roads will be closed for awhile. Ware talked with state officials and says the damage doesn’t appear to be enough to get state aid.
Ware says it looks like the county will have to absorb the cost and officials are looking into some loans. Ware says it’s a disaster to the county, but not on a big enough scale to merit state and federal aid. Ware says they’ll know more about the damage in a few days.