The last several months have been the worst for Guthrie County secondary roads, according to County Engineer Josh Sebern.

From the wet soil of last fall to multiple large snow events, hard freezes, and rapid melting this spring, Sebern says this year has been the most catastrophic in his tenure, and for most counties across the state. Gravel roads have taken the brunt of this year’s severe weather and flooding, with many washed out and aggregate lost. Sebern shares how the damage has affected their work schedule, “Normally by this time we would be installing some pipes you know cleaning some ditches, doing some digging and we’re not. We’re taking all of those staff members and we put them in trucks and we’re trying to get as much rock out there as we can at this point.”

Sebern adds, they likely won’t get as many pipes installed or ditches cleaned out as he would like this year, but getting material out on the gravel routes is their first priority. Sebern is also working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recoup some of the losses the county has had. He says it will be a long journey ahead, “It’ll take some time. We’ve been declared but they’ve not allocated the funding, nor do they have the staffing to even come in and try to work with us at this point. We are trying to do some preliminary leg work. We’ve been working with Bob Kempf, we’ve been working with Guthrie County EMA (Emergency Management Agency), we’ve been working with the Iowa Homeland Security, trying to get a lot of the paperwork in ahead of time.”

Sebern predicts financial assistance from FEMA will be further delayed due to the Mississippi River flooding in Davenport. The department hauled $100,000 worth of rock in April, and Sebern has asked for a $600,000 amendment to the current fiscal year budget.