Feds offer relief funds for damaged NC roads

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials are releasing $4 million in emergency funds to North Carolina to help repair roads damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood made the announcement Wednesday.

North Carolina follows New York and Rhode Island in requesting assistance from the Department of Transportation, and the $4 million represents another installment of federal aid going toward repair.

North Carolina will use the funding to repair portions of U.S. 158 and N.C. 12.

The N.C. Department of Transportation said crews used nine pumps to lower the water so U.S. 158 in Kitty Hawk can reopen.

Work crews are trying to reopen N.C. 12 on Pea Island between the Bonner Bridge and the temporary bridge erected after Hurricane Irene last year. Sand is up to 4 inches deep in some places.