BUFFALO TWP — In the southeastern part of Butler County, the Butler-Freeport Community Trail got hammered in 2004 by the flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan.

Ron Bennett, who was the president of the trail council at the time, said he had heard of storm damage from news reports. He went to the trail the following day to survey the situation.

“I was just amazed at how much actual damage there was,” Bennett said.

He said the damage primarily was in Buffalo Township, running from just south of Cabot to Freeport. About nine areas were hard hit.

The storm had washed out trail surfaces and drainage pipes. Much of the trouble was due to erosion along the banks of Buffalo and Little Buffalo creeks.

The floodwaters picked up refrigerator-sized boulders, which were placed along the trail for erosion control, and pushed them into the creeks.

Several trees were knocked down.

Volunteers were able to deal with some of the minor damage shortly after the storm, such as tree removal and filling in smaller holes on the trail surface.

State officials determined that repairs should cost about $95,000.

Government funding covered almost all of the work, with FEMA paying 75 percent and the state Emergency Management Agency paying 25 percent. The trail council donated some materials. Bennett said the township road crew did a lot to help.

Less than a year after the storm, the trail was able to host part of a bicycle race that attracted a couple hundred participants.