The damage from December's storms and flooding will cost between $40 million and $50 million, Washington transportation officials say.

The estimate, which has yet to be finalized, came Monday, on day one of the legislative session, minutes into the first House Transportation Committee meeting.

The legislators heard from John Himmel, the emergency security manager for the Washington State Department of Transportation, who said emergency crews were activated from Dec. 8 to Jan. 2, and responded to 50 locations.

At one point we had 107 road sites that were closed," Himmel said. "Most of them have been reopened now."

Steve Roark, WSDOT’s Olympic region administrator who also spoke to the committee, estimated the cost of storm damage, who said the range was a preliminary estimate and may change as Gov. Bob Ferguson prepares to ask President Donald Trump for a major disaster declaration, which would open up federal funding.

"I want to emphasize that," Roark said, noting that the state signed 16 contracts for emergency repairs, with more to come. "It is just an estimate. … We're still compiling costs."

It's unclear how much federal money will be available for cleanup, but lawmakers said in the past that the feds pay for 80% to 90% of disaster costs, and Roark said the state is typically on the hook for 20% of damages.

The state can apply for relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency only after Trump declares the emergency, and that money can be used for work already completed. WSDOT will ask the Federal Highway Administration for funding, but any permanent restoration work can only happen after that agency's approval.

Highway 2 suffered the most damage during the storms, and parts of it remain closed. Nearly 50 miles of the highway between Skykomish and Leavenworth were closed for almost three weeks, some of it buried under up to 10 feet of debris. Other parts of the road were completely washed out.

The highway is now open on both sides of Stevens Pass, but repairs will take months, said Roark. and the stretch of Highway 2 from milepost 58 to milepost 70, east of Stevens Pass, likely won’t be done until July, after the snow melts.

The stretch through Tumwater Canyon has 16 places that are damaged or completely lost. The canyon is still off-limits, but could reopen in March, lawmakers heard.

Work to stabilize the slope on Interstate 90 near milepost 36 at North Bend was swift. Flooding had eaten away at the road, exposing a culvert and compromising the shoulder and guardrail. All lanes reopened Jan. 7.

On Highway 12 near Naches, the “roadway was gone, the Yakima River took it out," Roark said. Most of the work there is done, but was paused to perform some environmental assessments as required by federal rules. Repairs should be complete by the end of the month.

Near Enumclaw, Highway 410 also washed out by a swollen White River, but crews rebuilt the embankment and the road reopened Dec. 23.

On Highway 101, about 6 miles south of Forks, "work's going to take some time" in the landslide-prone area, Roark said, noting that the state built a retaining wall about 20 years ago to keep the road out of the Bogachiel River.

"And we're going to get to do it again,” Roark said. Work would begin, at the earliest, this summer. Until then, this section of Highway 101 is only open to alternating traffic.

Roark said no bridges were substantially damaged during the storms.

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