COLERAIN — Many roads throughout Belmont County sustained damage as a result of unusually wet weather conditions this month, and Colerain Township is one area where the damage is extensive.

Colerain Township has 42 miles of roads to maintain, and now three of its roads are closed. Howard Hill Road, Jug Run Road and Hell’s Kitchen Road all are still closed in the wake of the extremely wet weather. Of those three, Hell’s Kitchen is in the worst condition.

Along with the three road closures, there are several slips across the township.

Colerain Township Road Foreman Jeff Wodarcyk is working to estimate the cost to repair the damage.

“Conservatively, there is about $750,000 worth of road repairs that will need to be done in Colerain Township,” he said.

On Thursday, Belmont County was again under a flash flood warning and tornado watch — weather conditions that Wodarcyk said would only worsen the situation. He noted that continued heavy rain “will definitely affect the already damaged roads.”

When speaking about the condition of Hell’s Kitchen Road specifically, Wodarcyk said that the

Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mineral Resources Management will be taking the lead on the repairs. Wodarcyk said the area of the slip is affected by abandoned coal mines and that ODNR has had past projects dealing with slipping in the area.

“A lot depends on if Ohio declares a state of emergency,” Wodarcyk said while speaking on expectations about when the roads will be reopened.

When a state of emergency is declared, it makes it easier to receive the funding that is needed to cover the work. Several townships in Belmont County aren’t able to afford the cost of repairs, so a state of emergency allows these townships to get the funding more quickly and easily from the state of Ohio.

Wodarcyk mentioned that if Ohio declares a state of emergency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be able to allot funding. FEMA can allot several hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding to the township.

“Roads are closed but people aren’t listening,” Wodarcyk said. “There are signs stating that the road is closed and people are either stealing the signs or knocking them over. The next step is to completely block the roads with piles or dirt.”

Wodarcyk said he is frustrated by people not abiding by the closures. He said he does not want to completely block the roads because he is concerned that if someone from out of town is driving through and following their GPS or driving through at night, they may not notice the blockage and cause serious damage to themselves or their vehicle.

While he acknowledged that everybody’s problems matter, he asked that the public be patient with him and the Belmont County EMA, which he is working side by side with.

“We are doing the best we can,” Wodarcyk said.