Rainy weather takes toll on county roads, bridges

In addition to the many soggy fields and yards, the torrents also have also caused damage to several county roads, leaving jagged pockmarks across the zig-zagging gravel roadways that populate the rural portions of Clay County.

With approximately 1,000 miles of gravel roads in the county, general maintenance and repair are daily duties of the county road department. Storms and other damaging weather systems only add to their task lists.

"Right now, we're just doing more of the usual: hauling gravel, grading and general maintenance," said Clay County Judge Gary Howell. "In some of the worst places, we may haul in some chat and rip."

Howell said that while there has been notable damage to many roads, it has not been serious enough to declare a disaster.

"We haven't heard of any bridges being washed out or anything like that," Howell said. "We've mostly seen things like washouts where water crossed the road, potholes and a few limbs down. We've been working on those to make sure the school buses could run, the farmers can get to their fields and people could get to their jobs."

Howell said the road department, which normally works four 10 hour days Monday through Thursday, will be working additional days if needed to get the roadways back in shape.

The road department operates on a $2 million annual budget, with approximately $100,000 kept as carryover each year. While that may sound like a large amount, Howell said factoring in the cost of line items such as labor, fuel and vehicle maintenance quickly chips away at the department's budget.

Howell said the department is always working on the roads.

"We do maintenance of some kind on the roads every day," Howell said. "It's a full-time maintenance job that we've got to do to keep the roads open. It's never ending. If you turn your back on those roads for too long, you'll have a mess on your hands."