The U.S. Department of Transportation says it would need congressional allocation to be able to provide direct help to the Shiloh community, near Elba, Coffee county, but in the meantime is working with other federal agencies to get resources.

“Congress has not authorized any programs or funding for DOT that can provide emergency relief directly to communities experiencing hardship, so this whole-of-government approach is critical to help the Shiloh community access federal assistance that is not available through DOT alone,” the federal agency said in a statement to AL.com Wednesday.

The Black community of Shiloh is seeking help with flooding issues caused by highway construction and is asking the federal transportation department for compensation for damages to homes and other things before an administration change in Washington come January.

A voluntary agreement between the Alabama Department of Transportation and the federal transportation agency in October provides a path to fix the flooding, which the community says started because of the project to expand Highway 84 beginning in 2018. But the community, which says it has dealt with flooding for six years, wants relief payments beyond the Voluntary Resolution Agreement (VRA).

“Work is already underway to implement the commitments of the VRA, and the Federal Highway Administration is in weekly contact with Alabama DOT to ensure that the actions required under the VRA are implemented,” the federal transportation department said. “The timing of the completion of the improvements will depend on which of the two options identified in the VRA is pursued.”

Timothy Williams, who represents the community, commends the federal transportation agency’s effort to work with other agencies but says time is of the essence.

“They told us they’re doing a whole-of-government approach, that’s good,” Williams said. “What they’re doing, finding other avenues. But that’s not going to solve an emergency situation right now because you have to wait months and years just to get that money,”

“Anything can happen. We’ve got reports showing that the house can collapse any day now. We’re living under the mercies of God. God forbid, if the house collapses and kills people, then the state and ALDOT and U.S. DOT are going to be liable because they know it’s an emergency situation. So grants are good, but the time frame that you have to wait on it.

The community says the requirement to write grants to access federal aid from other agencies is an added burden.

“We’re not grant writers,” Williams said. “We don’t know how to do that stuff. We’re at the mercies of other people. If the community doesn’t know how to do grants and doesn’t have anybody working with them, then they would be left in the cold.”

“They’re working with a government approach. But why make the community try to do grants when we were put in this situation?”

Federal transportation officials say they have been working on behalf of the community for months.

“Since June, DOT has provided enhanced technical assistance to help the Shiloh community access federal resources through DOT’s Thriving Communities initiative and provided a dedicated community liaison to regularly work with the community,” the federal agency said. “DOT staff have convened an interagency group, set up meetings to help identify options to assist the Shiloh community, and been in touch regularly with the community.”

“To date, DOT has helped the Shiloh community meet with the following agencies to access funding and other relief options:

• US Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Army Corps of Engineers
• US Department of Agriculture.”