WASHINGTON D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Federal Highway Administration has awarded a grant totaling $37,479,818.00 for the cost of repairing or reconstructing highways and roads that suffered damage from the 2011 flooding of the Missouri River. In June, the President signed a declaration that the damage caused by the flooding on the western part of Iowa was in need of federal emergency relief, which allowed for the funding available at this time. Congress appropriated the funds as a part of the Appropriations bill that passed in September.  The grant will reimburse funds spent by the Iowa Department of Transportation in repairing roadways. Harkin is a member of the Appropriations subcommittee that funds the DOT.

“This is urgently needed funding for the state, which will serve a great purpose: reimbursing funding already used to repair the roads that were damaged during flooding,” said Harkin. “Western Iowa is already on a path to rebuilding and this support will aid in that effort.”