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FEMA Disaster Recovery Center in Hundred Closing Friday

The last Disaster Recovery Center serving communities in northern West Virginia after devastating flash floods this summer will close this week.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Recovery Center in Wetzel County will close at 6:00 p.m. Friday evening, September 29.

The center, located at Hundred High School, opened after flooding in July devastated several communities in northern West Virginia.

Although the center is closing, flood victims can still register with FEMA by phone or online until October 17th.

Just over 800 people have registered for aid so far, and nearly $2.5 million has been granted to individuals throughout the region.

More information:

Survivors can register by calling the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362 (FEMA) from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. Those who use 711 or Video Relay Service can call the same helpline. Persons who are deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech disability and use a TTY, should call 800-462-7585. Survivors with general questions or questions about their applications are encouraged to call the helpline or visit: www.DisasterAssistance.gov.

The number for the U.S. Small Business Administration Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center is 800-659-2955. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339. For disaster program information visit SBA.gov/disaster.

Address and hours of operations until closing:

Wetzel County

Hundred High School Library

Hundred High School, 3490 Hornet Highway, Hundred, WV 26575

Monday through Friday (the last day) 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Hearing Hundred: A Rural Town’s Path to Flood Recovery

Communities in rural northern West Virginia towns are still cleaning up from and coping with the effects of flash flooding in July when a state of emergency was declared in eight counties. Hundred — a small town in Wetzel County — was among the hardest hit.

Donations are still being accepted at Hundred High School and at Union Bank, as well as online. Surplus donations are being forwarded on to Mannington, which is also still in recovery.

Some 7,000 hours of volunteer labor and thousands of meals have been served to residents in the Hundred area, so far. Volunteers are feeding fewer people at this point, but area churches are taking turns cooking and serving meals at the Hundred United Methodist Church from 1-4 p.m. daily until there’s no longer a need.

Hundred is at least 20 minutes from anywhere — and 40 minutes from any large retail stores. You can only get to the town of about 200 people traveling along twisting winding ridges and hollows. While volunteers and the National Guard have cleared most of the town of debris, plastic debris and mud still clings high in the trees around the creek — a stark reminder of how violent this small tributary can rapidly become.

Plastic debris and mud lines the creek bed, reaching up into the trees, highlighting the flood levels from July 29th.

Hearing Hundred

For the past 30 years, Edward Wade and his immediate family lived on the edge of Hundred in a small trailer court along the West Virginia Fork Fish Creek. He said he’s never experienced anything in his 72 years like the waters that swept into his mobile home at 2 in the morning, on July 30.

“When the girls got out — that was my main concern for them to go,” he said. “I wasn’t worried about myself.”

Rescuers couldn’t reach Edward. He sat in water up to his chest until morning.

“They ain’t gonna get me back on the creek — I’m done,” Edward said. “I stayed in there with the water up like that — and the electric stayed on!”

Edward says looters have already tried to strip his abandoned mobile home of wires and electrical boxes. He and his step daughters just moved into a nearby home that a relative doesn’t occupy any more. They’re hoping to eventually buy the small house, but are happy to have a clean, dry place to live in for now.

Not everyone has been as lucky.

Hundred High School is still a base camp for relief supplies and food more than a week after the latest flood swept through town — though volunteers are beginning to move supplies to a nearby business so that school can resume on time later this month.

Madeline VanScyoc, 13, is one such volunteer. Her family has a contracting business in Hundred that took a major hit, estimating they’ve taken $300 thousand in damage.

Madeline isn’t phased.

“People went through worse stuff than we did,” she said. And she would know. She’s been working at the school, helping families who have little left, getting to know the National Guard, and she says that’s allowed her to count her own blessings.

“There were two houses completely washed away. Some of the kids that I was watching the other day while their parents had to go out and get new shoes and stuff — this little boy had nothing but a t-shirt and a diaper on because his whole room washed out. He had nothing.”

Lessons from Richwood and the Flood of 2016

Flood relief volunteers Beverly VanScyoc and her daughter Madeline at Hundred High School.

Madeline’s mom, Beverly VanScyoc, is the guidance counselor at the high school but she’s taken over managing flood relief communications. When she isn’t collecting information or passing information out, she’s stopping in on hard-hit families to make sure they’re effectively coping in the flood’s aftermath. She says silver lining of the flood might be that the community is becoming better acquainted with each other, and other flood-hit towns.

Beverly was able to meet relief organizers from Richwood in the immediate aftermath of the flood to learn how people coped with the flood that hit West Virginia in June 2016.

“That was the most helpful thing anyone could have done for us.”

She hasn’t been home but for three nights in the first nine days of flood aftermath. She said she’s been sleeping on lawn chairs and running on adrenalin, but she’s looking forward to life returning to some kind of order. She doesn’t use the word “normal” to describe what life in Hundred will be.

“Richwood,” she pointed out, “is at 14 months right now, and they’re still in recovery. It’s gonna be a long time. Our families, they have very low financial means and I don’t know that they’re ever gonna recover.”

Beverly said Hundred is looking to other recovery examples the state saw last summer — tiny houses and best-practices to get the most help possible from FEMA. But she says one of the hardest lessons learned after the flooding in June 2016 was that — if you’re poor, you can’t expect much financial help.

“They don’t own their lands, they don’t own their trailers. When FEMA comes in they’re gonna give them maybe a couple hundred dollars for personal items lost… People think FEMA is gonna come in and be their savior. FEMA is not gonna be their savior. They don’t own anything and these people lost literally everything they own.”

Hundred, WV, a week after flooding, is still clearing and cleaning debris.

Beverly reports 40 or 50 homes were lost or severely damaged. Families are homeless and without vehicles. Some are simply refusing to leave water-logged homes.

“We’re having a hard time getting some of the residents to understands all the health issued they’re gonna have as a result of being in there.”

The town’s fire department lost four emergency fire vehicles and an ambulance as well as four personal vehicles during rescue operations. The town also lost it’s garbage truck. The water system was flooded, many mains burst and the whole service area remains under a boil order. Hundred’s only grocery store did just have a new kitchen donated, but Beverly says it’s not likely to reopen for months.

Still, there’s hope for revitalization. Madeline said the flood introduced her to the more human side of her town.

“I didn’t know that so many people actually cared,” Madeline said. “A lot of the people around here — all they care about is drugs. And so many people came out of the woodwork and helped.”

Flood-Hit Communities Rally Around Each Other in Wake of Storm

Flash flooding in northern and north-central West Virginia communities has left millions of dollars in damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. The rain that began Friday, July 28, resulted in high, rushing waters that days later, families are still trying to recover from. Eight counties are under a state of emergency and members of the National Guard have been mobilized to deal with the damage.

Much of that damage is concentrated in Marion and Wetzel counties.

While official totals haven’t been released, the state Division of Highways estimates each county experienced more than $1 million in damage to roadways. The towns of Mannington and Hundred were hit particularly hard. But people in these close-knit communities rallied around each other from moment disaster struck.

The Foreman

Lora Michael in her Mannington, W.Va., hair salon — Lora’s Shear Delight — on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017.

In her small hair salon on the edge of Mannington in Marion County, Lora Michael was blow-drying a customer’s hair with a phone wedged between her cheek and shoulder. She was giving advice on how best to help one of the town’s flood victims.

“I’ve been in business 36 years and I’ve lived in Mannington 51 years — all my life,” Lora said later.

Most people in Mannington have started calling Lora “The Foreman.” That’s because she’s been helping people since early Saturday morning, when Buffalo Creek broke its banks and started flooding houses and businesses in the small Marion County town early Saturday morning.

Lora and her husband, Bill, got an automated call alerting them to flash flooding in the county, but they ignored it at first because there have been false alarms in the past and they live on a hill. They received a phone call a few hours later from her friend, Kim Harris. She wanted to move her vehicles to Lora’s house because of the rising water.

Lora and Bill began walking to Kim’s house. That’s when they realized how quickly the water was rising.

“We’ve never had that much water in that community ever. And not only was it just water, it was rushing water. I mean water that was just … it had some power behind it,” she said.

Kim Harris

All of the Harris’s salvageable belongings that were in the basement when it flooded are strung out on her lawn.

Kim had watched the water creep up the street in front of her house Saturday morning and then come rushing into her basement.

“It was like a river,” she said. “It busted my basement door open, that’s how fast it came in.”

Grass marks the high-water line in Kim Harris’s basement Tueaday, Aug. 1, 2017 in Mannington, W.Va. The Harris’s shut off their electric before water hit the breaker box.

Kim ended up with about 8 feet of water in her basement, soaking many of her belongings. Kim said she was amazed by how quickly her friends and neighbors swung into action to help her and the rest of the flooded town.

“[I’m] very blessed to have that type of community to come in that fast and start helping,” she said.

Kim said her family and friends, including Lora and her husband, had her basement cleaned out, power restored, hot water heater working and soggy drywall removed in a couple days.

“Everybody was involved. And then word got out, you had people from Tyler County, all the other counties that come in and just, they just started working together,” she said. “And the people that have asked if we need anything is overwhelming.”

Along with the National Guard and volunteers from Fairmont State University, cheerleaders and football and basketball players from nearby North Marion High School quickly fanned out across Mannington to help residents clean out flooded basements hours after the water receded.

Hundred

That same spirit of cooperation was evident 14 miles away, in the Wetzel County town of Hundred, where water rose about 4 or 5 feet into homes and businesses downtown.

National guardsmen and volunteers were still dumping piles of trash and debris into trucks on Tuesday.

Blue Ridge Mountain Fire Company was one of the many departments that responded to Hundred’s call for help after flash floods hit the Wetzel County town July 29, 2017.

There were also several out-of-town fire engines parked outside the volunteer fire department.

The building had only been occupied for about two weeks when it flooded.

VFD president Johanna Lemasters said it took about two-and-a-half years to raise the money to build the new facility.

“It’s heartbreaking to think that we’d finally reached that goal and then it’s just wiped out in a few minutes,” she said. “And five of our firemen lost their own personal vehicles.”

The water rose into the parking lot, where the firefighters who responded to the flood thought their vehicles were safe.

But as soon as word of the flood spread, Johanna said, VFD companies from as far as Morgantown and Wheeling sent help.

“The one’s that are more heart-wrenching to me, that gets to me, are the ones that suffered the flood loss last year. Like the people from Greenbrier County bringing up supplies,” she said.

Hundred VFD President Johanna Lemasters and volunteer Jason Miller talk outside the VFD’s new, but recently flooded, building in Hundred, W.Va.

Jason Miller, of Wadestown in Monongalia County, ended his family vacation early to come to Hundred. He’s helping coordinate the volunteer response, which he says has been overwhelming.

“Prime example: Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, drove through the night to be here last night by 9 p.m. because our water service was on the verge of collapsing itself,” Jason said, referring to the four town wells that were damaged in the flooding. The town’s water system is limping along under a boil-water advisory.

“They’re not even asking for a dollar or dime. Nothing.”

Officials Visit Hundred

An ice cooler sits wedeged into a bridge along Fish Creek in Hundred, Wetzel County, W.Va., after flash floods hit the area early on July 29, 2017.

State officials have made their way to the flood-hit communities during the past several days too, including Gov. Jim Justice and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin.

Congressman David McKinley was at the VFD in Hundred on Tuesday. He said his main takeaway from seeing the flood damage is that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has to do more for individuals.

“There’s a culture within FEMA too often, maybe the bar is set too high to help individuals out. FEMA’s got to pay more attention to individuals,” he said. “Yes, keep doing their job for municipalities, but look at individuals. Individual families are struggling with this.”

What People Need Now

Back at Lora’s Shear Delight hair salon in Mannington, Lora Michael is thinking about what people in her community need the most now that the immediate cleanup is done.

“The problem is the bugs, the smell. The drying-out process — fans, dehumidifiers, lime, bug spray, fresh towels and linens, because people used what they had I’m sure, to gather up, wipe off. If you didn’t have rags, you used your bath towels,” she said.

She said that with so many flooded vehicles there’s also a real need for something people in less-isolated areas may take for granted — transportation.

“We have no taxi services, we have no bus service here at all.”

Donated items are being accepted at North Marion and Hundred high schools, and at several churches in the area.

West Virginia State Police Closing 3 Detachments at Year End

West Virginia State Police detachments in three locations are closing at the end of the year. The agency said Tuesday Grantsville, Elizabeth and Hundred will close.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports the Grantsville detachment in Calhoun County will be covered by the Clay and Glenville detachments. The Elizabeth detachment in Wirt County will be covered by the Parkersburg detachment. The Hundred detachment in Wetzel County will be covered by the Paden City detachment.

Superintendent Col. Jay Smithers said it’s not economically feasible to keep a detachment in each community. But he said the state police will continue providing professional law enforcement.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin last week ordered state agencies to cut spending by 2 percent in order to save $59.8 million and help make up for the general revenue fund falling behind by $87 million as of July.

How We Chose the Eight West Virginia Contestants For "Turn This Town Around"

“Turn This Town Around” is a unique and groundbreaking project to select two West Virginia communities to receive training, coaching, and technical assistance to help them achieve success in revitalizing their communities.

“Turn This Town Around” is a feature of West Virginia Focus, in partnership with West Virginia Public Broadcasting and the West Virginia Community Development Hub.

You are encouraged to vote right now for the two towns from a selection of eight contestants: in the north – Grafton, Hundred, Petersburg, and Rowlesburg; and in the South – Alderson, Hillsboro, Matewan, Pineville.

Lots of folks are asking how the eight “Turn This Town Around” contestants were selected. Most commonly, they ask because they want their town to have a shot at this opportunity.

We think that’s great. We wish we could provide that opportunity to every West Virginia community that steps up.

That being said, by my count there are 149 incorporated municipalities and 2,941 unincorporated communities in the state. In this first round of Turn This Town Around, we have the capacity to devote our resources to two communities.

So how were the eight contestants selected? There were several considerations. We knew we wanted to focus on one northern and one southern community. We thought selecting the two out of a field eight would narrow the focus and increase the competition. So we selected four northern and four southern communities.

Some of the thinking that went into the selection included:

· Where could we really make a visible difference in the course of a year?

· Where we did not already have a strong presence or relationships?

· We wanted towns that represented some geographic diversity.

· Which towns had attracted our attention as communities with potential that hadn’t been realized?

Yes, the selection of the eight was fairly arbitrary.

But here’s the point: Turn This Town Around is an experiment – a very exciting one that we believe has huge potential – but an experiment nonetheless. This is its pilot year. This will be a great learning experience for all of us, one that we hope will help us improve and expand the process in coming years.

And unlike some community development initiatives, Turn This Town Around will be very well documented. Tools, tips and techniques will be openly shared. The lessons learned will be made available to any West Virginia community that is interested.

If you want to revitalize your community, but weren’t selected for Turn This Town Around, pay attention, because you can do this at home! Learn from Turn This Town Around and apply those lessons to your town!

While the Hub and the many service providers in the WV Community Development Network will be providing whatever assistance we can to the Turn This Town Around communities, it is a central principle of community improvement that the community must determine and drive the process. Mobilize your community and get to work – don’t wait for us!

We’re exploring ideas about how we might open the process up next year to give your community an opportunity to join the Turn This Town Around campaign. Stay tuned!

VOTE: Which Two West Virginia Towns Should Get "Turned Around"?

It’s been a rough month in West Virginia, with the water crisis and all the negative, stereotypical coverage of Appalachia around the 50^th anniversary of the War on Poverty.

Let’s take all our anger and frustration and turn it into something positive. Let’s “Turn This Town Around.”

We’re partnering with West Virginia Community Development Hub and New South Media, Inc. to inspire two West Virginia towns – one north, one south – to develop their own solutions.

It starts with YOUR vote – you get to choose which two towns (out of eight candidates) will be part of this effort. Then, the community will take over. They’ll receive training and other resources to complete a project that builds on their efforts to revitalize their town.

As publisher Nikki Bowman of New South Media wrote in “West Virginia Focus” magazine:

The two towns you select will become living laboratories. Our goal is to help ignite change, to rally the community with a set of goals and deliverables, to showcase the successes and failures, to identify challenges, and to figure out what works and what doesn’t. The West Virginia Community Development Hub, a leader in community development, will coordinate the effort. The Hub will connect the two communities with training on civic engagement, leadership development, and project management; provide a community performance coach; help them assess their strengths and vulnerabilities; develop a community vision and plan; and link them to technical assistance providers in key areas like civic engagement, the local food movement, community sustainability, and organizational development.

You can (and should) read more of Bowman’s article here, which includes detailed information about each town.

You can check the current voting standing on the West Virginia Focus Twitter and Facebook pages.