COLUMBIA, S.C. (October 18, 2024) – Acting Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Kristin White visited the upstate with Secretary of Transportation Justin Powell and other officials to tour damage to roads and bridges in the area from Hurricane Helene. On US 276 in Caesar’s Head, SCDOT is already putting two million dollars from Federal Highway Emergency Relief funds to work repairing a road washout near the state park.
“FHWA is on the ground working alongside South Carolina DOT to help rebuild and support communities devastated by Hurricane Helene,” said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Kristin White. “We are committed to supporting South Carolinians with the funding and resources needed for ongoing recovery. FHWA’s initial $2 million in emergency relief funding is a down payment on a long-term investment to help rebuild critical roads and infrastructure to connect communities.”
Secretary of Transportation Justin Powell said, “Hurricane Helene brought widespread damage to our state, but here in South Carolina we are working together to recover from the storm. I appreciate our partners at the Federal Highway Administration quickly responding to help and supporting the emergency road and bridge work we have underway.”
“I am glad to see the support behind getting these roads and bridges in Oconee County reopened quickly,” said Senator Thomas Alexander. “I appreciate the coordination between state and local officials to prioritize emergency repairs and recovery.
Senator Rex Rice said, “I was thankful for the opportunity to spend some time in the field with the crews working to make repairs to roads and bridges here in Pickens County. The coordination and collaboration between multiple agencies is working to get South Carolina back to normal.
Representative David Hiott said, “We don’t usually see hurricane impacts like this in Pickens County, but I appreciate the quick work from government officials on every level to help the people of South Carolina.”
“Here in South Carolina, we are neighbors helping neighbors to recover from this hurricane,” said Senator Tom Corbin. “This storm caused 362 state road closures in the upstate and SCDOT has already reopened 340 of those closures. I want to thank the folks at SCDOT for their hard work and commitment to quickly repairing the roads that remain closed from storm damage.”
More than 900 roads and bridges were closed due to storm-related damage and SCDOT has already worked to reopen 859 of those closures. SCDOT is expediting emergency repair plans and beginning work to repair and safely reopen the roads and bridges that remain closed following the storm.
The storm event caused numerous downed trees and debris crews will continue to work through the end of the year in the most impacted areas to ensure that communities are able to fully clean up and get back to normal.
