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Workers wade through floodwater as they clear drainage channels from the roadways in the Enslow Park neighborhood on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in Huntington.
Workers wade through floodwater as they clear drainage channels from the roadways in the Enslow Park neighborhood on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, in Huntington.
HUNTINGTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Residents will learn about flood relief resources and hazard mitigation from state officials during a public meeting in the Don Morris Room at Marshall University Student Center next week.
The West Virginia Emergency Management Division will inform people affected by flooding on programs provided by the state and flood buy-out processes.
The state Emergency Management Division will also answer questions about efforts to reduce long-term flood risks at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 18.
The city sought out guidance and the informational meeting from the state after Mayor Patrick Farrell attended an Enslow Park Neighborhood Association meeting last month, where many residents shared their flooding concerns and wanted more information on the buy-out process, elevating their homes and other questions, Huntington Communications Director Evan Lee said.
The meeting will allow state officials to explain programs that residents affected by flooding could benefit from. Zane Parsley, project manager for HuntingtonÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Office of Planning and Development, said the city cannot broker programs.
However, this meeting allows both the city and residents to explore flood programs straight from the source.
All of the programs mentioned in the meeting will be completely voluntary, Parsley said. A goal of the cityÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s is to get a list of residents who are interested in the programs, which will help the city know what it should be advocating for, Parsley said.
Huntington has dealt with flash flooding for years. Notably affected neighborhoods are Enslow Park and Southside. On May 6, 2022, 4 inches of rain fell in and around the city in just a few hours, causing damage to more than 200 homes, the Pew Charitable Trusts reported.
The most recent rain event occurred Feb. 6. Total rainfall was between 2.5 and 3.5 inches in Cabell and Wayne counties, according to the National Weather Service.
The city activated a shelter-in-place advisory for Enslow Park. While all residents were safe, the flooding damaged some homes in the area.
During the Enslow Park Neighborhood Association meeting, Farrell said the city is looking into long-term solutions such as a detention system around Kinetic Park or a series of them in appropriate locations.
The detention system/ponds and other long-term solutions could take more than 10 years and tens of millions of dollars to complete, he said. In the meantime, the city will do everything it can do with the resources it has now such as clean out blockages in Fourpole Creek, look into an effective alarm system for residents and an egress route for the Enslow neighborhood.
The meeting is hosted by the City of Huntington, Fourpole Creek Watershed Association and Marshall UniversityÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Resiliency Center.
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