Fentress County is facing more than $300,000 in damages to infrastructure and property following the recent flood event.
Fentress County EMA Director James Bilbrey said the total cost estimate includes significant repairs needed for roads and bridges as well as the removal of debris. Bilbrey said the county beginning the process of seeking state and federal assistance through TEMA and FEMA.
“This is just something we weren’t really expecting that much,” Bilbrey said. “I mean, and it was just a cloud coming out of Kentucky, and it was just that much amount of rain. It just, the creeks and the rivers and everything, I mean it just couldn’t handle that much water.”
Bilbrey said approximately $250,000 of the total damage estimate is tied specifically to the county road system and bridge structures. Bilbrey said the county is now waiting to see what level of financial help will be provided by the state and federal government. Bilbrey said he expects all road and bridge repairs to be fully completed within the next week or two.
Bilbrey said the flooding also impacted local farmland and left behind a large volume of debris that must be cleared.
“We have seen several times for storms, but we haven’t never seen, even ever since I’ve been up here, I’ve been in Fentress County since 1984, and I haven’t never seen it that bad,” Bilbrey said. “I mean, as it was that weekend. I hear a lot, or several people talking about the 1982 flood, which kind of compared pretty close.”
Bilbrey said the Fentress County Highway Department has already made significant progress in restoring access to affected areas. Bilbrey said most roads and bridges have been returned to a passable state for motorists while permanent repairs continue.
“It will take, I mean, as far as the roads and bridges, they have got it pretty decent right at this time,you know, at least passable. I mean, as far as where they can drive over it and everything.” Bilbrey said. “So they’ve been working real hard on it to try to get it back in place and everything.”
Bilbrey said the intensity of the rainfall caused creeks and rivers to overflow their banks for nearly a full day. Bilbrey said several county roads in the Pall Mall area were forced to close because the sheer volume of water moved through the region in such a short timeframe.
“It overflowed its banks and went in the fields,” Bilbrey said. “And we did there for, possibly almost a day or less, that some of the county roads down in Pall Mall was closed due to flooding. So like I say, it was just so much amount of water in a just a short time frame.”
