Preliminary damage estimates to public property from deadly Memorial Day weekend storms and flooding in Central Texas is more than $80 million, according to a newspaper's review.
The Austin American-Statesman compiled figures from the Texas Department of Transportation, county numbers and other public agencies. The estimate released Friday involves public roads, bridges, dams, parks and buildings.
The newspaper's total includes $15.6 million that the state expects to spend in Hays and nearby counties cleaning up debris and repairing roads.
Hays County, where nine bodies have been recovered and identified, has at least $33 million in public damage. San Marcos and Wimberley were especially hard-hit by flooding.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will sponsor meetings to work with leaders of affected counties to provide information on seeking government assistance, Greg Hughes, a FEMA spokesman, said June 13.
"It could be several months before we know how much each county submits, and then we can calculate it and add it all up," Hughes said.
The initial estimate for Travis County, including Austin, puts public disaster-related costs at $9.9 million, said Pete Baldwin, the county's emergency management coordinator.
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Early estimates put public damage in Bastrop County at about $8 million, including a $5 million state-funded fix for a dam that collapsed in Bastrop State Park. Williamson County officials estimate $6.7 million worth of damage to public roads and bridges, dams, utilities and recreation facilities.
Caldwell County expects damage to public roads and other facilities to exceed $6 million, said Martin Richey, the county's emergency services manager, with an additional $3 million tab to clean up debris.
Milam County has an estimated $5 million in damage to public and private properties, County Judge Dave Barkemeyer said.
Blanco County's initial damage estimate totaled more than $1 million.
"As far as a repair timeline, there will be a great degree of variability," according to Blanco County Judge Brett Bray. "In some cases, recovery may only take a few months, while other damages may take a year or more before our county will return to a semblance of normalcy."
