Flooding causes $475,000 in damage to Madison County roads
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REXBURG — A wet spring has caused damage to 200 miles of Madison County roads in just one week.
Snowmelt caused by warmer weather and rainfall began to cause some flooding on March 19. Flooding continued throughout the week, mostly in rural areas. County officials declared a state of emergency as water started taking a toll on the roads.
Repairs were already underway early in the week, when more heavy rainfall hit Thursday causing additional flooding, which destroyed all of the completed work and doubled the amount of damage, Madison Fire Department Chief Corey Child said. Child is also the county emergency manager.
In declaring a state of emergency the county requested $175,000 from the state to help offset the cost of repairs. After Thursday, the county is now requesting an additional $300,000. Child told EastIdahoNews.com the county has an annual budget of $50,000 for road repairs.
“This far exceeds what the county has ever experienced,” Child said.
Child explained much of flooding was due to farmland still being frozen from winter — normally that farmland would absorb extra rain and melting snow. Instead, the water washed across the fields and hit the roads. The phenomena is called sheet flooding.
The flood warnings for Madison County are expected to expire late Saturday afternoon.
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