Dive Brief:
- The Federal Highway Administration, under the Department of Transportation (DOT), announced $14 million in funds to repair infrastructure in North Carolina after Florence.
- The emergency relief funds will be used to "restore essential traffic and limit further highway damage," DOT said in a news release. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and the state's Secretary of Transportation James Trogdon requested the funds.
- Parts of I-95 and I-40 in the southeastern part of the state remain closed due to flooding, data from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) shows. The state agency is advising against travel in most of southeastern and south central North Carolina.
Dive Insight:
More than 740 roads are closed across the state of North Carolina, halting travel and forcing detours in coastal and inland areas grappling with severe flooding.
Trucks moving goods along the East Coast and continuing on I-95 through North Carolina are being rerouted, NCDOT said. While employees have returned to work at ports in North Carolina, truck operations won't resume until Monday.
A map from the agency shows as of Friday morning, stretches of highway on I-95, I-40, US-74 and US-76 were closed because of dangerous levels of water.
"Although the storm has passed in some areas, travel conditions across the state are deteriorating as flood waters continue to rise and trees fall because of saturated grounds," NCDOT wrote on its website. "Do not put your life, or the life of others, in danger by choosing to drive."
