- Total cost of repairs for three roads is $270,000, with FEMA covering 75% of the costs.
- Rocky Ford Road, the hardest hit, remains closed while Pope and Lawhorne Roads remain passable.
- Bids for the repairs are due by December 27th, with construction expected to begin soon after.
BROADCAST SCRIPT
It's been months since Hurricane Helene washed out Rocky Ford Road, and neighbors are feeling the impact.
I'm digging into how these repairs are affecting your daily routine and what's being done to get life back to normal.
Hurricane Helene left behind major damage to three roads in Thomas County—Pope, Lawhorne, and Rocky Ford.
While Pope and Lawhorne are still passable, Rocky Ford remains completely closed, and for many neighbors, that means detours and delays.
John Paulson, a retired firefighter, lives less than a mile from the damage.
"We can't get directly from our house to Highway 19 or 319. We have to go around," said Paulson.
Paulson says these detours either on Coolidge, Rocky Ford Road, or Eric Hall Road are more than an inconvenience—they're costly.
"We're going at least five miles out of the way to go anywhere we want to go. Gas prices are not getting any cheaper," said Paulson.
Rocky Ford Road is a critical link for commuters heading to Colquitt County.
It's also the most expensive to repair, with a price tag of $155,000.
Jay Knight with Public Works says the overall repair budget for all three roads is $270,000.
"You're trying to figure out what year flow that was… So is that a hundred-year flood, 10-year flood, or 500-year flood? This thing came back as a little over a hundred-year flood range," said Knight.
Knight tells me that this means the rainfall event was so intense and extremely rare.
But even with the severity of the storm, the good news is that no major mitigation is needed for the repairs.
Most of the cost—75%—will be covered by FEMA, with 10% funded by GEMA and the remaining 15% by the county.
Contractors are already working on bids, with the deadline set for December 27th.
Neighbors can expect roads to be repaired and reopened by April 2025.
Until then, they'll have to keep navigating these detours and wait for much-needed relief.
