Gov. Mike DeWine has declared a state of emergency in 63 Ohio counties due to heavy rains that damaged roadways in June.
The move allows the Department of Transportation to get federal funding for road repairs. ODOT spokesman Matt Bruning says they’ll be identifying the affected roads over the next two weeks.
But officials will consider more than just the level of damage.
“The example I’ve used before is, you may have two culverts that have washed out on two different roads,” Bruning said. “One would qualify but one would not, just because one is on the way to a school. So that’s part of the criteria that they look at.”
Bruning says the funding decisions will ultimately be made by the federal government.
“After we do our assessment, they’ll come in and do an assessment as well,” he says. “And then they’ll make the final determination as to what qualifies and what does not.”
In Northeast Ohio, the affected areas include Summit and Cuyahoga Counties, where officials say they are still compiling the list of roads to submit for repair.
The affected counties are: Adams, Ashland, Ashtabula, Athens, Belmont, Brown, Butler, Carroll, Clermont, Clinton, Columbiana, Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Erie, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Gallia, Geauga, Greene, Guernsey, Hamilton, Harrison, Highland, Hocking, Holmes, Huron, Jackson, Jefferson, Knox, Lake, Lawrence, Licking, Lorain, Madison, Mahoning, Marion, Medina, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Portage, Preble, Richland, Ross, Scioto, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Union, Vinton, Warren, Washington and Wayne.
