State Highway Damage From Winter Storms Tops $1B

(AP) - State officials say highway damage from storms has topped $1 billion for the first time in California history.

Mark Dinger, a spokesman with the state Department of Transportation, said Tuesday that the assessment to state highways is preliminary. He said storms caused just over $1 billion in damages at 424 sites for the fiscal year that ends in June.

Last year's damages totaled $660 million.

This year's initial estimate does not include a massive weekend landslide that wiped out part of Highway 1 in Big Sur.

One of the wettest winters in decades in California has triggered slides and road closures along the central coast's Big Sur, forcing some resorts to close and others to use helicopters to carry in guests and supplies.