LaGRANGE — Local officials met with the state emergency and transportation officials Monday to discuss the next steps in Troup County’s flood recovery.

The meeting, held among representatives of Troup County, the cities of LaGrange and Hogansville, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, began discussion on how repairs to local roads washed out by flooding will be made and paid for, according to James Emery, the county’s roads engineer.

“GEMA and GDOT needed to hear specifics about the (flood) damage and the repair needs,” Emery said. “We spent a lot of time going over all the repair needs in detail.”

A state emergency grant program may be available to help fund road repairs, Emery said. He was working late Monday evening to prepare the grant application and expected to submit it to the state today.

“I think they’re going to allow us to apply for (grant money for) bigger projects that have the roads closed partially or completely,” he said.

As of press time today, at least 11 roads in Troup County were completely or partially washed out from flooding. A complete, up-to-date list can be found at www.lagrangenews.com/flood.

Emery said he considers all of the closed or partially closed roads to be priority.

“If (the washed out roads) are hindering emergency access, like some of these that are one lane, they might have a hard time taking a loaded fire truck,” he said.

If the state emergency grant is approved, Emery hopes to begin repairs to all affected roads simultaneously.

“I can’t do that with my own resources, but my hope is that I can with the combined resources of the county, GDOT and contractors,” he said.

The damage from flooding is still being assessed by road engineers and surveyors.

“We’ve still got a few areas that have too much water to assess,” Emery said. “There could be more damage that we have not yet found.”

Emery expected to have the grant application prepared and turn it over to county commissioners for approval this morning.