FebruaryÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s devastating floods killed three people and destroyed countless homes and businesses across southern West Virginia. But now, some of the stateÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s affected counties are being shut out of federal flood recovery funds.
As the flood waters receded across the southern coalfields following torrential rain and flooding on Feb. 15-16, Gov. Patrick Morrisey asked for funding through both the Public and Individual Assistance programs from the . By early March, his request included 14 counties.
On Tuesday, some aid was denied for seven of those counties.
Individual Assistance was denied for these counties:
- Boone
- Cabell
- Greenbrier
- Kanawha
- Lincoln
- Monroe
- Summers
In addition, Public Assistance was denied for Cabell and Kanawha counties.
Individual Assistance was approved for:
- Logan
- McDowell
- Mercer
- Mingo
- Raleigh
- Wayne
- Wyoming
Public Assistance was approved for:
- Boone
- Greenbrier
- Lincoln
- Logan
- McDowell
- Mercer
- Mingo
- Monroe
- Raleigh
- Summers
- Wayne
- Wyoming
Morrisey can appeal these decisions within 30 days of TuesdayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s FEMA ruling.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œFEMA has offered the ability to appeal this decision,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Morrisey late on Tuesday. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œAnd I will look at all options to do so.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Morrisey thanked the Trump administration for their support following the floods.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œDespite [TuesdayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s] notification, I am grateful to the Trump Administration for their strong support for southern West VirginiaÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s recovery following the February floods.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
The Individual Assistance program benefits individuals and households, while the Public Assistance program benefits communities.
Total FEMA outlays in West Virginia is still to be determined.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThe amount of FEMA PA assistance that goes to entities within each designated West Virginia county,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ a FEMA official said in a statement, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œwill be determined based on the damages submitted by eligible Applicants for reimbursement throughout the disaster program delivery process.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Requests to the West Virginia Emergency Management Division and the GovernorÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Office for details on county-by-county damage estimates were not returned by press time Wednesday.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜If itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s your house, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s catastrophicÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™
A Kanawha County emergency management official said FEMAÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s decision is understandable.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIf itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s your house, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s catastrophic,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ said C.W. Sigman, director and fire coordinator for the Kanawha County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œBut [Kanawha County] did not suffer the catastrophic damage ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” in terms of numbers of homes, businesses ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” that the southern counties did.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Sigman said most of the flood damage that Kanawha County saw was in the Tornado area along the Coal River and in low-lying areas of Nitro.
HereÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a breakdown of Kanawha County damage:
- 38 properties with minor damage
- 8 properties with major damage
- 2 properties destroyed
Kanawha County Commissioner Natalie Tennant is hopeful that FEMA will heed an appeal from Morrisey.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWhile Kanawha County did not experience catastrophic flooding in February like some of our neighbors to the south did,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Tennant said, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œsome of our residents and their properties were affected. I appreciate the governor appealing FEMAÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s decision, and I will work with him to solve the problem.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Chad Nelson, floodplain manager for Cabell County, said he didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t have figures for estimated damage costs in the county from the Feb 15-16 flooding. Nelson said he contacted the WVEMD to get a dollar figure that was provided to FEMA to make their assessment but also did not receive a response by press time Wednesday.
Nelson said his office only received two calls regarding FEMAÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Individual Assistance. Both residents were concerned about driveway access over a creek that had been damaged by rising water.
Boone County saw high water from the storms in the Wharton and Bim areas along Pond Fork, a tributary of the Little Coal River, according to Boone County EMA director Michael Mayhorn. There were several high-water rescues reported and one house damaged, but no injuries were reported. Mayhorn declined to comment on the denial of Individual Assistance from FEMA.
How assistance gets calculated
In a statement, FEMA officials said several factors are used to evaluate individual assistance:
- State fiscal capacity and resource availability
- Uninsured home and personal property losses
- A disaster-impacted population profile
- Impact to community infrastructure
- Casualties
- Disaster-related unemployment
The need for public assistance is figured with:
- Estimated cost of the assistance
- Localized impacts
- Insurance coverage in force
- Hazard mitigation
- Recent multiple disasters
- Programs of other federal assistance
To find more information about the declaration process and evaluation factors for Individual Assistance and Public Assistance, go to .
HD ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ reporter Destiney Dingess and editor Richie Ray contributed to this report.
