On Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced $802 million in funding to help with repairs to roads and bridges damaged in natural disasters and extreme weather incidents.
Part of the FHWA’s Emergency Relief program, the funding will help 36 states, Guam and Puerto Rico repair roads and bridges damaged in catastrophic weather events like hurricanes, flooding and mudslides. The selected projects will receive federal reimbursements for repair projects, officials said.
“Americans are dealing with the impacts of more and more extreme weather caused by climate change—affecting their lives and our infrastructure,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. “With these funds, the Biden-Harris Administration is helping communities rebuild key transportation links and make them more resilient for the future.”
The funding will cover repairs from Hurricanes Ian and Fiona in 2022, flooding and mudslides in Vermont in 2023, and damage from the atmospheric rivers in California from 2022 to 2024, among other natural disasters. Programs included $361,665 for repairs in Prescott National Forest in Arizona due to a July 27, 2002 storm and flash flood; $6.6 million for the state of Florida to repair damage from Hurricane Nicole in November 2022; and $23.8 million for the state of Hawaii to repair roads and bridges damaged during the Lahaina Wildfires in Maui in August 2023.
“The effects of climate change are dramatically impacting the lives of so many communities across our country,” Acting Federal Highway Administrator Kristin White said. “Since December 2021, FHWA has distributed nearly $4.2 billion in Emergency Relief funding, which helps states repair and recover from climate events and natural disasters. This federal funding is critical to ensure our nation’s roads, bridges, and tunnels remain safe and people can safely get where they need to be.”