WINDOM -- Townships in Cottonwood County have reported $300,000 worth of damaged infrastructure from last week's floods, Emergency Management Director Kim Hall said Thursday.
That number doesn't included damages sustained in the county's municipalities that are still being assessed.
"About half of the county townships have reported damages on the county highways," she said. "Most of the Cottonwood County damages are going to (be) the roads and bridges. There are some culverts that are still underwater and bridges that need to be checked out."
Representatives of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and FEMA met with county officials Wednesday for a preliminary assessment of the damage. The assessments cover damage to county infrastructure, government buildings, schools and watershed districts and debris removal.
In about three weeks, the agencies will revisit Windom to compile the damage estimates and begin filing paperwork for assistance.
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In the meantime, county workers are repairing infrastructure in hopes they will be reimbursed by the federal government.
"They're doing what they can. They have to do emergency repair work to keep the roads in safe driving conditions for the public," Hall explained. "Most townships are grading trying to pull up gravel from edges of ditch; there's a lot of gravel replacement that will need to be done. It's a pretty tough season to have flooding, when farmers are trying to get in the fields. Everyone's doing what they can."
She said the excess water is still flowing down from Murray County, swelling the West Fork of the Des Moines River. According to the Advanced Hydrological Prediction Service, the river continues to inch upward instead of receding.
