A federal inspector will be in Douglas County today to survey damage wreaked by last month’s flash flooding, part of a push to qualify local governments for federal disaster assistance.

The inspector, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is scheduled to visit sites in Marion, Palmyra and Willow Springs townships, where roads, drainage ditches and other public infrastructure were damaged during flash floods in mid- to late August.

If the remaining damage — plus the money already spent on repairs — adds up to $350,000, townships and other local governments in the county would be eligible to seek reimbursement for at least 75 percent of the expenses.

“It’d be a big help,” said Bonnie Wiscombe, trustee in Marion Township, located in southwest Douglas County. “We weren’t expecting to have to do all this rock. Anywhere there was a road, we’ve had to do work. We have like 80 miles of gravel roads, and I don’t think there was one road that wasn’t damaged.”

Paula Phillips, the county’s director of emergency management, said that Marion Township alone likely had at least $50,000 in storm-related repairs. She’s been busy compiling documentation and reports of damage connected with the storms that sent water rushing down rural roads, washing away low-water crossings and at times swallowing cars and equipment.

In Lawrence, a lightning strike blew out controllers at the city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, City Manager Mike Wildgen said.

The storm didn’t knock the sewage plant offline — workers simply rerouted operations to systems that remained functional — but Phillips is adding the estimated $10,000 repair job to her running list of potentially reimbursable expenses.

Wiscombe said she could use all the help she could get. Township crews are charged with maintaining rural roads, and the late-August storms undid much of the work that already had been completed to prepare the roads for winter.

“Every place has some damage,” she said. “Everything went over the road, and when water runs down the road, it makes a ditch. It’s not severe damage, but it takes time to fix.”

Flood-repair bills could receive federal help

If the county qualifies for federal disaster funds, Phillips said, area governments would be able to seek reimbursement for buying replacement road rock or paying overtime for employees pressed into additional service.

“It can make a big difference,” Phillips said.