DAVENPORT, Iowa - Davenport released an update on the cost of fighting the 2019 flood.
KWQC TV6 spoke with City Official Nicole Gleason who stated, "Our final numbers on clean-up and flood fighting efforts are expected to go to FEMA by the end of the year, so this number is approximate. Some clean-up has been done on contract, while other clean-up has been done by City staff and we are still reconciling these. If you reach back out in around 8 weeks, these should be relatively ‘final’."
The full statement reads:
"Costs related to employee labor, overtime, materials, loss replacement, contract work and equipment depreciation that are known are conservatively $3.5 Million, some calculations as far as amount that can be claimed for vehicle depreciation, etc. are still being worked on which is why the number is approximate.
Credit Island Lane - at this point, we have removed debris and simply ‘filled’ the road. The city is attempting to gain mitigation funds related to this road to put a more flood resilient access in, however, we will not know if this is an approved project for some time. At this point, Parks crews have spent around $20,000 on labor, material, equipment and disposal costs, this does not include volunteer hours that were put in towards the effort. If there are not any mitigation funds available for this project, the city would plan a more robust repair in the future.
For further context, around $500,000 of that total is directly related to the breach (overtime, lost vehicles), the rest of the cost is related to the multiple clean-ups, extensive overtime and flood damage to facilities/roads."
Photo courtesy of KWQC TV6.