IRON COUNTY, Mo. – Congressman Jason Smith (MO-08) sat down with Iron County Commissioners Josh Campbell, Jim Scaggs, and Dustin Hinkle in Ironton recently for an update on the county’s recovery from recent flooding, which the National Weather Service has classified as a 1-in-1,000-year event.
Congressman Smith said, “Iron County has taken a brutal hit. Fourteen roads across the county sustained damage, and one of them, County Road 65, took five straight days of work just to become passable again. This kind of destruction is far beyond what a county this size can handle on its own, and I’m committed to making sure Iron County gets every bit of federal support it needs to recover.”
Commissioners presented Congressman Smith with a damage assessment showing $12.4 million in infrastructure damage countywide, a figure that grew to $19 million following a joint Preliminary Damage Assessment with FEMA and the State Emergency Management Agency. The western part of Iron County, the hardest-hit area, sustained an estimated $15.3 million in damage alone, with roughly 23 miles of roadway losing an average of 2 to 3 feet of roadbed and some stretches losing as much as 6 feet.
Iron County’s total annual revenue is only $1.4 to $1.6 million, and the county’s financial reserves have been depleted in recent years by other much needed investments and repairs to county infrastructure. Because FEMA only reimburses public entities after funds have already been spent, commissioners say the county will need to spend more than $3 million upfront before seeing any reimbursement. Neighboring Washington and St. Francois Counties, along with Brockmiller Construction, have supplied equipment and manpower to assist with recovery efforts, and Congressman Smith’s office previously helped secure the release of $200,000 in FEMA funds still owed to Iron County from last year’s tornado damage.