President Donald Trump has approved a major disaster declaration for McDowell, Mercer, Mingo and Wyoming counties over severe flooding that swept southern West Virginia roughly two weeks ago.
President Donald Trump has approved a major disaster declaration for McDowell, Mercer, Mingo and Wyoming counties over severe flooding that swept southern West Virginia beginning Feb. 15. Announced Wednesday, the declaration opens the region to financial aid through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
All 55 counties in the state were placed under a state of preparedness Feb. 6 over prior flash flooding, with Cabell and Kanawha counties also placed under a state of emergency.
Roughly one week later, with water levels still high, local officials reported decades-high levels of flooding from another bout of rainfall. On Feb. 15, Morrisey placed 13 counties under another state of emergency over the weather, which opens an area to emergency funds and mobilizes emergency personnel.
Morrisey requested that Trump issue the region a major disaster declaration on Feb. 17. Major disaster declarations make federal relief funds accessible to residents and businesses affected by disaster events, but first requires approval from the president’s office.
“The Major Disaster Declaration will supplement the work being completed on the ground and provide relief to recovering communities in southern West Virginia,” Morrisey said in a press release Wednesday evening.
Resources made available to the region by the federal major disaster declaration include FEMA’s Individual Assistance program and Hazard Mitigation Grant program, which provide financial aid to individual residents and public infrastructure, respectively.
For more information on how to apply for disaster aid, visit the FEMA website. For more information on Wednesday’s major disaster declaration, visit the FEMA webpage for the declaration.
Beekeepers from across West Virginia visited the State Capitol Thursday to urge lawmakers to protect beekeeping rights in the Mountain State.
West Virginia is home to roughly 16,000 honeybee colonies, which produce at least 250,000 pounds of honey per year, according to the West Virginia Department of Agriculture (WVDA). Across the United States, agriculturists estimate that honeybee-pollinated crops make up one-third of the food we eat.
But beekeepers in the Mountain State say overly restrictive local ordinances can make it hard to maintain colonies. Concerns like these have spilled over into the courtroom; and, this week, shown up at the State Capitol.
In 2023, South Charleston resident Alex Urban sought a permit to keep bees on his property, but was rejected by the city. South Charleston went on to ban keeping domesticated animals like bees within its limits, so Urban filed a lawsuit in the Kanawha County Circuit Court in August 2023.
Ultimately, the circuit court ruled in favor of Urban and the WVDA, affirming that the WVDA has authority over beekeeping regulations in the state.
“Beekeeping is a crucial component of agriculture and environmental sustainability, and we are committed to protecting those who contribute to our state’s food systems,” said West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture Kent Leonhardt in the press release. “We worked diligently to ensure that the law remains clear and fair for all West Virginia farmers and beekeepers.”
While the circuit court case has been put to rest, beekeepers across the state want stronger protection to ensure local policies do not infringe upon their right to maintain colonies. Several visited the State Capitol Thursday for “Agriculture Day,” an annual event that aims to familiarize lawmakers and residents with issues affecting the state’s agriculture industry.
From left: Paxton Coby, West Virginia Beekeepers Association; Rick Forre, Fayette County Beekeepers; Louisa Householder, WVBA; and Mike Lamp, Monongalia County Beekeepers.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Louisa Householder is president of the West Virginia Beekeepers Association (WVBA), which offers education, mentorship and advocacy to 25 regional beekeeping clubs across the Mountain State.
To prevent future conflicts on the local level, she said her organization is advocating for the West Virginia Legislature to pass House Bill 2454, which would clarify in the West Virginia Code that authority over apiary policies rests solely in the WVDA.
The bill was proposed in the West Virginia House of Delegates by Del. Mike Hornby, R-Berkeley, on Feb. 17. It has not yet been taken up for a reading on the House floor.
“No town, city, municipality or political subdivision may prohibit urban agriculture or agricultural residential land or cause a permit or license to be issued or obtained to engage in the practice of urban agriculture,” the bill reads.
“It strengthens the apiary law that we already have,” Householder said, adding that supporting beekeeping rights “is extremely important for food security.”
Mike Lamp serves as the president of the Monongalia County Beekeepers Association, part of the WVBA network. He said the value of pollinators like honeybees reaches beyond food production.
“Pollinators not only help with cultivating crops, but wild species of plants as well,” he said.
Like Householder, Lamp said reinforcing protections is a simple way to ensure an important animal species keeps strong numbers across the state.
“The beekeeping industry in West Virginia is not necessarily a small one. It’s a relatively sizable industry with a lot of people who are affected by ordinances like these,” Lamp said. “That’s what makes this bill all the more important.”
A Jefferson County resident gifted 31 acres of land near Shepherdstown to the Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle as part of an environmental conservation easement earlier this month.
A Jefferson County resident gifted 31 acres of land near Shepherdstown to the Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle (LTEP) as part of a permanent environmental conservation easement earlier this month.
On Feb. 7, the land trust announced that resident Keith Janssen entered his 31-acre family property in Jefferson County into an easement to protect natural resources. The trust is a nonprofit that aims to “preserve open space, farmland and rural landscapes” in Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties, according to its website.
Conservation easements protect land from development projects. They are enacted by a property owner and overseen by land trust groups like the LTEP.
Keith Jannsen stands outside a 31-acre property he placed under a conservation easement with the Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle.
Photo Credit: Land Trust of the Eastern Panhandle
The LTEP says more than 7,600 acres of land are currently under conservation easements in Jefferson County, one of the fastest growing counties in West Virginia. Industrial development and the protection of greenspaces have been widespread concerns for many county residents, and West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle at large.
In the press release, Janssen said he decided to enter the property into an easement out of “a long-held and deep-seated belief in the importance of conserving our natural environment.”
“My father purchased this property in 1969, and it holds a special place in my heart for many reasons,” he said. “I have long valued the idea of preserving it in its natural state so that it can be enjoyed by wildlife and future generations and encourage others to consider doing the same.”
LTEP Board Member Mark Schiavone, who helped lead the easement process, said the property contains forested land with karst geology, which warranted protection.
Karst landscapes contain dissolving rock types like limestone and marble, creating “sinkholes, sinking streams, caves [and] springs,” according to the National Park Service. These geological sites are uniquely capable of storing clean water that can be used for drinking, but can be susceptible to contamination due to its porous nature, according to the NPS.
Waterways on the property also feed into the Eastern Panhandle’s Teague Run, and the northern region of the Potomac River, according to the trust.
Plus, the property has “some road frontage on a fairly well traveled public road,” Schiavone told West Virginia Public Broadcasting Wednesday. “So there’s the public enjoyment of the fact that you know they’re going to be seeing this woodland in a natural state moving forward forever.”
Properties placed under easements can potentially be used for agricultural or residential purposes, Schiavone said. But they are rarely open to commercial development, and never to industrial projects.
Fall foliage is visible on Shepherd University’s campus in Shepherdstown.
Photo Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
“These easements are permanent. They’re enabled by state law,” he said. “They restrict future subdivision of the land, and they also limit whole classes of land uses moving forward. So the idea is to preserve the land in its natural state.”
Schiavone said properties like Janssen’s get submitted to the land trust for consideration, and the board evaluates whether its attributes make it compatible with the goals of the easement process.
“Obviously something like a junkyard is not going to fit well in the concept of preserving significant land forever,” he said.
Schiavone also said entering a conservation easement can be financially beneficial, because easements are taken into consideration when property gets appraised.
“When you take a property and you basically donate the development rights off of that land. Those rights had value. It’s a pretty simple equation,” he said.
That means the financial sacrifice that comes with forbidding development can be offset with tax deductions in the future, Schiavone said.
As part of the LTEP, Schiavone said he appreciates the opportunity to help residents protect land they care about for generations.
“You get to work with people who really love their land for a multitude of reasons. They have a heartfelt connection to their property, and they want to leave a legacy,” he said. “They want to leave this earth with the the knowledge that their land is going to basically protect it in that state moving forward. So I find that really gratifying to work with people like that.”
House lawmakers voted to oppose Maryland efforts to reclassify parts of the Potomac River to protect cold water aquatic life from climate change.
The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a resolution Tuesday opposing the redesignation of a segment of the Potomac River.
The federal government classifies waterways according to the aquatic life species that live in them, namely as cold water, warm water or mixed aquatic life zones.
The Potomac River runs along the border of western Maryland and West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle.
Recently, the Maryland Department of the Environment has sought to expand the designation of cold water aquatic life areas, arguing that the ecological impacts of climate change demand closer monitoring of changes to water temperatures.
“As climate change causes stream temperatures to rise, cold water habitats like those in the North Branch Potomac River are becoming increasingly rare,” reads a department webpage. “Protecting these habitats is essential for species like trout, which are highly sensitive to warming.”
But West Virginia House Concurrent Resolution 49 argues that reclassifying the waterway would be detrimental to local industrial projects, because it would require them to monitor the temperature of discharges into local waterways.
Del. Gary Howell, R-Mineral, discusses House Concurrent Resolution 49 on the floor of the West Virginia House of Delegates Tuesday.
Photo Credit: Perry Bennett/WV Legislative Photo
The resolution specifically refers to a segment of the Potomac River that begins at the mouth of Maryland’s Savage River, and continues through the community of Pinto, Maryland.
The reclassification would “impose an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce and on the State of West Virginia,” the resolution reads. The resolution also urges the attorney general to investigate the constitutionality of a reclassification.
“Discharges from the West Virginia side of the river will have to be cooled down… adding costs to West Virginia businesses,” said the resolution’s lead sponsor, Del. Gary Howell, R-Mineral. Howell’s House district is bordered by a portion of the Potomac that would be affected by a reclassification of the northern branch of the river.
“The resolution is requesting that Maryland reject this so that we don’t have to go to court if they do this to fight for West Virginia,” he said.
Members of the House did not discuss the resolution after Howell introduced it, and voted to pass it by a verbal vote majority.
To be fully adopted by the West Virginia Legislature, the resolution must first pass a vote from the West Virginia Senate, which will now have the opportunity to consider the proposal.
Boone, Lincoln, and Wayne counties are now under a State of Emergency as well.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey has spoken to US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, who notified the governor that DHS stands ready to take immediate action to offer resources and support West Virginians affected by flooding.
Original Story
Gov. Patrick Morrisey has declared a State of Emergency amid heavy rains and flooding in Cabell, Greenbrier, Kanawha, Logan, Mercer, McDowell, Mingo, Raleigh, Summers, and Wyoming Counties.
Morrisey is urging all West Virginians to be vigilant and use caution as other parts of the state are affected by adverse weather. He has ordered personnel and resources to mobilize and respond to any emergency and delegated certain administrative powers to the Director of the West Virginia Emergency Management Division (WVEMD) to facilitate the provision of essential emergency services.
A State of Preparedness is already in effect throughout all 55 counties of West Virginia. The National Weather Service has issued Flash Flood Warnings, Flood Watches and Flood Warnings in certain areas of the state.
National Weather Service Forecast At 8 a.m. Sunday
Cold front crosses today, flooding to continue. Snow to end event.
A strong low pressure system approaches from the west, pushing a cold front across the area this morning. Another round of rainfall is likely as the cold front crosses. This system has already produced significant and catastrophic flooding across portions of the area. River flooding will likely persist into Monday. Temperatures turn cold later today behind this front leading to snowfall across portions of the area. Areas of blowing snow could be possible across the mountains as gusty NW winds arrive. Very cold and bitter air arrives this week with a Canadian system. 30s, 20s and teens as high temperatures are likely through Friday; overnight lows in the teens and single digits will be common. Watching an unfolding snow event that looks possible mid-week.
Check National Weather Service Watches, Warnings, or Advisories for all areas of West Virginia here:
West Virginia Week looks at the start of the 2025 West Virginia legislative session — beginning with Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s State of the State address.
On this West Virginia Week, we hear from Gov. Patrick Morrisey about his plans for the state. We’ll also have the minority response to his first State of the State address.
Plus, the debate begins over vaccine exemptions and whether parents should be allowed to decide that their kids can skip a long list of vaccines. We hear about new penalties on a coal company owned by Sen. Jim Justice, and a new program to help childcare businesses in West Virginia get off the ground.
Also in this episode, a new state position: Director of Addiction Recovery. And, a new way to protest that draws on the past.
Maria Young is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.
West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Maria Young and Randy Yohe.
