A sheen of ice covered the Deschutes River in Bend on Sunday, Jan. 14, 2024.
Emily Cureton Cook / OPB
Oregon has been granted federal relief money for infrastructure damaged during the January 2024 ice storm, and for other disasters that struck the state over the last five years.
The Federal Highway Administration is sending nearly $43 million dollars to reimburse Oregon for damage caused by landslides, flooding and ice events on Oregon’s roads.
Oregon received nine awards, a significant portion of which will go to the Oregon Department of Transportation.
In a news release announcing the award Monday, Oregon Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden thanked communities affected for documenting the damage they sustained.
“I’m glad the teamwork with these communities has generated these crucial federal resources,” Wyden said, “and I’ll keep battling for similar funds when natural disaster strikes anywhere in Oregon.”
The state will be reimbursed for what it spent responding to a landslide that took out a portion of Highway 101 in 2022, damage caused by flooding in communities west of the Cascades in 2023, and damage caused by the January 2024 ice storm.
Both Oregon’s senators said they planned to continue to advocate for resources as the state faces an increasing number of natural disasters worsened by climate change.
“I will keep working to ensure Oregon has the tools needed to recover and become more resilient in the face of future storms while we take on the climate chaos that is intensifying these disasters,” Merkley said.
According to the FHA, Oregon was one of 38 states and territories to receive funds from this year’s $802 million allocation. The emergency relief program. is designed to help communities recover from climate events and natural disasters.