Individuals in Morgan County So Far Not Getting FEMA Help

So far, FEMA's denied assistance to individuals in Morgan County with flood damage. That's not sitting well with Laura Teague, Chair of the Morgan County Board of Commissioners. The county is eligible for help with costs incurred preparing for and responding to the flooding. As for individual property owners, Teague says they will try to get them help. Cong. Cory Gardener's working to see what can be done about help for individuals. Those who do need help can go to the Weldon Valley School on Friday from noon to 7 p.m. to talk with representatives of agencies like the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the 211 help hotline staff and the Small Business Development Center.

Road Repair Work Underway

A convoy of heavy construction equipment is slowly rolling over a high-elevation highway through Rocky Mountain National Park to join a massive highway rebuilding project after the Colorado floods. The damage to state highways is estimated at $430 million. Trail Ridge Road through the national park is closed to other vehicles to make way for the slow-moving convoy, which will be used on road repairs around Estes Park. Crews and construction companies are rushing to make temporary repairs to flood-damaged roadways. 200 miles of state highways and 50 state bridges were destroyed by flooding.

Possible Fed Shutdown Could Impact Flood Recovery

A group of 120 Utah National Guard engineers have been told to wait a week before helping rebuild U.S. 36 between Estes Park and Lyons because of the potential for a government shutdown. A National Guard spokesperson tells the Brush Tribune they're sending a small group to get gear ready in case Congress strikes a deal to keep the government working past next week. Fixing roads and bridges is a race against winters arrival.

Morgan County Commission Has Message for the State

The Morgan County Commission's going to send a resolution to the state supporting finding a way for more rural representation in the state legislature. The Fort Morgan Times reports about two dozen county residents showed up at the 4-H building at the Fairgrounds to displeasure with the way the rural areas are represented at the state Capitol. There are two options many favor-one is secession, and there's the Phillips County option, which would change the way one of the chambers of the Colorado General Assembly's legislators are apportioned, possibly with one from each county, rather than all by population.

Slick roads from heavy rains may have caused a single vehicle rollover crash, Sunday morning

Slick roads from heavy rains may have caused a single vehicle rollover crash, Sunday morning. Police said three Sterling residents were seriously injured in the accident about 3-1/2 miles east of Crook. Travis Wiebers, Chris Hansen, and an unidentified Sterling woman, went off the road and rolled twice. The two passengers were critically injured and flown from the scene to area hospitals. As of Monday afternoon, both passengers were still in critical condition. The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation.
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Putting kids safety first

Putting kids safety first. That was one of the things discussed when RE-1 Valley Board members met Monday, after having had to postpone their regular meeting last week due to the South Platte River flooding. During the meeting, superintendent Dr. Jan DeLay said no sooner than the city of Sterling lifted the no flush order Monday morning, another downpour hit, so they decided to wait and open Sterling schools, Wednesday, as opposed to some other schools that opened Monday and yesterday. DeLay says their priority is putting student safety front and center. RE-1 looked at using porta-potty's so that schools could open on Monday. But because of concerns about an E. coli outbreak, and where the waste would go, since the schools were surrounded by flood waters, the district decided to wait until things got a little more stable weather wise.
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Help is on the way for Morgan County residents who suffered losses from the South Platte River floods

Help is on the way for Morgan County residents who suffered losses from the South Platte River floods. An estimated 60 homes in the county have been directly impacted by flooding, and residents can get information about potential aid at two disaster assistance meetings, Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Merino Fire Hall/Community Center, and Friday, from noon to 7 p.m. at the Weldon Valley School.
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The massive flooding is creating a trashy situation for some state landfills

The massive flooding is creating a trashy situation for some state landfills. The cleanup process across flood-ravaged counties is expected to take a while, and officials say extra trash from the after-effects of massive Colorado flooding has reached nearly twice what they're used to facilitating, having gone from 1,000 tons per day to more than 1,700 tons. There was a bit of light at the end of the garbage tunnel though, and officials said, in light of the storms, the state did relax a recent ban on electronic waste, allowing landfills to accept broken TVs and computers.
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