Workers with the Covington County road department were on the ground across the county Thursday, working to make several roads passable once again after the sites were damaged during Monday and Tuesday’s severe weather.

County Engineer Darren Capps said 168 miles of dirt roads, along with seven paved-road sites, will require repairs after being damaged by floodwaters.

“This is a real rough estimate, but we are looking at probably somewhere around $700,000 in repairs countywide,” Capps said.

Of the seven major sites, Capps said T.T. Clark Road in the southeastern portion of the county sustained the most damage when floodwater washed out a 60-foot portion of roadway. Capps added that repairing all of the damaged areas may take as long as a year.

“It really depends on how much FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) helps us out,” he said. “We’re still working on repairing the $1 million in damages from the remnants of (Hurricane) Isaac. Before we start on anything, we really want FEMA to see, and they’ll be here Monday.”

In the meantime, Capps said workers will be out across the county working to make sure the roadways are at least safe to cross.

“It will be a while before we have rock back on the dirt roads and things like that, but we’ll get the paved roads working pretty quick,” he said.