CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The list of storm-damaged roads in need of repair has been growing by the hour in recent days for the state Division of Highways.
“Water is not a road’s friend,” DOH spokesman Brent Walker said Tuesday. “It deteriorates quickly underneath the road bed and really causes havoc and that’s what it’s done.”
Flooding rains from Sunday and Monday nights forced dozens of roads to be closed for high water and in some cases that water has torn away pavement. Walker said the agency doesn’t have a total assessment completed in a couple dozen counties. He said they must wait for the weather to settle down.
“We really just have to wait and see, continue our debris pick-up and make sure drains are open,” he said.
The work that has been done by DOH crews has been targeted in a couple of areas.
“We’re going to focus on our primary words and we’re going to focus on access to important facilities around the state,” Walker said.
The force of the water was so great along Centralia Road in Braxton County that a tire was wedged underneath the buckled pavement.