Flooding in Dare County, N.C. Photo: NCDOT

Flooding in Dare County, N.C. Photo: NCDOT

Hurricane Matthew may be little more than scattered clouds in the Atlantic Ocean at this point, but it left behind damage to highways and other property that could take a lot of time and money to clean up.

The storm hit the Southeastern U.S. hard, slamming into Florida as a category 3 storm and dragging along the coast as far north as Virginia before moving out to sea. While the wind and flooding have subsided, state transportation departments are only now fully accessing the damages.

As of Oct. 14, the U.S. death toll from the storm has hit 42 people. Goldman Sachs estimates that when all is said and done, the storm may have caused up to $10 billion in damages, according to a Chicago Tribune report.

In North Carolina a section of southbound Interstate 95 has been  washed out by floods and may take as many as three weeks to repair. Until then, NCDOT has diverted traffic to the northbound lanes, creating a two-lane highway detour. Interstate 40 has also been affected by flooding in a 7-mile section near Interstate 95.

The Florida coastal highway A1A may take as long as six months to a year to fix the damage caused by storm surges that washed away large sections of the road. The highway, which follows a thin strip of land adjacent to the main coast, is the primary route to many beaches and towns in the area.

In Virginia’s Hampton Roads district, the Virginia Department of Transportation estimated its damages will top the $2 million mark, with at least 44 washed out roads, nine of which will require major repairs. A sinkhole that developed on Route 58 was still being assessed as road crews are waiting for the waters to recede.

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