CARTER COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Carter County took a major hit from Hurricane Helene. A year after the floods, the county and its citizens are still making progress towards rebuilding.

Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby said the county had almost $180 million worth of infrastructure lost and almost 75 homes damaged or destroyed.

Nearly 75 roads, adding up to 90 miles, were damaged, as well.

Woodby said the county borrowed $40 million in bonds to expedite the recovery process.

“We decided to borrow the money to go ahead and allow the highway superintendent and his team to begin fixing roads and bridges,” she said. “The reimbursement process for FEMA is very slow and tedious, and we have citizens who need their roads and bridges back.”

The budget for government recovery was $80 million, Woodby said. Out of $20 million the county had in savings, $10 million was used to aid in the rebuilding process. An additional $20 million was given by the governor and the General Assembly.

Woodby said the county has hired a contractor to help navigate paperwork.

“That contractor is costing us an average of $100,00 a month,” said Woodby. “We’ve had them almost a year, so that adds up to around $858,000 for just the contractor. Honestly, if we would not have had a contractor, the highway department would not have been able to do it. They don’t have the staff, the manpower, nor do they have the administrative staff in the office to be able to navigate all the roles.”

Highway Superintendent Shannon Burchett said there are no roads closed (excluding bridges), but several roads, like Shell Creek Rd., are still under heavy repair.

“A lot of gravel,” he said. “They’re not back in asphalt yet. We have probably 80% with an asphalt back.”

Burchett also said that the highway department is balancing everyday road maintenance and Helene recovery.

“I have 18 crews that go out on a job, and that leaves the shop foreman, the mechanics and the personnel in the office,” he said. “I still have to mow and maintain all of Carter County. So we still have to mow the grass, patch potholes, replace sand, put up signs, stuff like that.”

The highway department has its own paperwork that is hindering the timing for these projects.

“We’re having to get the money that we were hoping to get from FEMA and TEMA,” said Burchett. “There’s a lot of paperwork that has to be done, a lot of permits. Everything has to have documentation, pictures, measurements.”

However, these constraints are affecting citizens.

Robbie Ballew has lived by Long Hollow Bridge for 38 years.

He said the bridge was his main route out of his property, but, since Helene, he has had to detour for almost 20 minutes.

“I can’t go to church,” he said. “I have to climb up the gravel to go check my water lines. And I can’t go out at night. I’m going on 76 years old, and it’s not safe to be driving around these roads. It’s sort of dangerous. I feel shut off from the neighbors.”

Ballew claimed he has felt neglected by the county throughout the rebuilding process. He said his property is now hard to access.

“[My home] was a beautiful little place,” he said. “I had it all fixed, but when [Helene came], I was just disheartened. Nobody came out to ask us if we were okay or assess us. Nobody said nothing to us, so we were just stuck down here. What if we had a house fire down here, or if I had a heart attack? By the time anyone got here, I’d be gone.”

Woodby said that the county tries their best to keep residents up to date on the recovery process and road closures. She said she understands everybody’s concerns.

“Many of the concerns have been the roads and bridges, and the routes to get to or from work, school or worship,” she said. “Right now, I think there’s different phases of aggravation. It was the initial phase, and then it was, we’re in the recovery phase, and people are starting to see things cleaned up and built back, and that really made for a positive attitude. And now we’re actually start to put some permanent fixtures in place. Patience has been a virtue, and I think people are starting to understand that this takes time.”

The county said road repairs should take up to a year to complete, and repairs for bridges should take two years.