June 2016 Flood Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Statewide Flood Funding Yet To Flow

Director of the State Resiliency Office (SRO) Robert Martin presented to the Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding Sunday about efforts the SRO is making to prepare for flooding disasters and propose preventative plans — although funding for those plans has remained stalled for decades.

The state created the SRO in 2021, in response to 2016 flooding disasters. The office was tasked with reviewing a 2004 statewide preventative plan for flooding, with an initial annual review in 2022.

“[S]trengthening floodplain management in the State will not be accomplished tomorrow, next week or next year,” the 2004 statewide flooding plan wrote. “Successful deployment of the strategies recommended in this Plan will take many years of sustained effort and require significant amounts of Federal, State and local funds.”

However, significant state funding for SRO has yet to arrive.

In the meantime, Martin said the three-person office has collaborated with other government agencies and local groups. Those efforts include studies on flooding risks with organizations like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, dependent on SRO grant funding.

During the interim meeting, lawmakers focused on community organizing, developing plans with stakeholder input and preparing for the potential of land buyout programs in flood-prone areas.

As of October 2023, the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service offered 30 McDowell County floodplain homeowners voluntary buyouts and 27 accepted.

“We didn’t realize completely how NRCS was involved in buyouts,” Martin said of the SRO’s efforts to coordinate between federal and state agencies in the last year. “We’ve been working with them recently because they’re doing some more buyouts down in the southern part of the state, in McDowell County.”

“We want to move you out, but we want to be able to move you within that community, if all possible,” Martin said.

Sen. Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, asked Martin about the potential uses of eminent domain in future state property acquisition. After the meeting, Nelson said he would like the legislature to acquire data on the process and bring community members affected to speak to the particulars of a potential buyout plan.

Sen. Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, at the Nov. 10 Joint Committee on Flooding interim meeting. *Credit: Perry Bennett/WV Legislative Photography*

“I know we have other members that really are completely against the use of eminent domain, period,” Nelson said. “I’m in the middle. Just give me the data, and let’s discuss it and see where we go.”

“We do not want this to be detrimental to people,” Martin told the committee. “We have more people wanting to move and get out of the property that they’re in that faster than we thought we would be able to take the property.”

Martin also said new grant funding will support starting and maintaining local long-term recovery groups, which have dwindled in recent years even as disasters, including those not federally recognized, have continued.

“We’ll be going out to the counties and creating long term recovery groups there, working for both communities, providing training and disaster case management,” Martin said.

Martin said the SRO will host an event on the second floor of the Capitol rotunda on March 11, with involved agency and community group representatives presenting.

2024_FRP_Final_LinkUpdated Download

The 2024 West Virginia Flood Resiliency Plan. Credit: State Resiliency Office

Federal Officials Investigate West Virginia Flood Program

A program that helps people rebuild homes that were damaged or destroyed in West Virginia’s 2016 flood has been under federal investigation, a state official told lawmakers.

As a result of the investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, RISE West Virginia is on a corrective action plan, said Michelle Tharp Penaloza, who is program director for the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery for the West Virginia Development Office.

Penaloza revealed the investigation to the Joint Legislative Committee on Monday in response to questions about the program, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

Senate Minority Leader Stephen Baldwin asked why the program had paused work to demolish damaged properties.

Penaloza said federal officials found a need for corrective action in August due to a lack of a duplication of benefits analysis by the West Virginia National Guard, which has helped administer the program.

“It’s been 100% transparent on everything that we’ve discovered,” she said. “For us to walk away with only one finding, I know that it doesn’t feel like a success story, but it really is.”

Baldwin said he was concerned that the investigation had been ongoing but lawmakers were just learning about it.

“We’ve talked about this program for the last three meetings,” he said. “That has never been mentioned. So that’s the answer to the question, ‘Why has this program been paused?’ It’s been under federal investigation.”

Penaloza said state officials have complied with federal standards.

“We now have a program that meets the requirements for the federal HUD grant,” she said.

The state has received $6.8 million to demolish flood-damaged properties and $3.5 million has been spent on 46 projects, Penaloza said. She estimated that the state has enough funding to demolish a total of 91 properties.

Meanwhile, work continues on flood recovery and reconstruction, said Jennifer Farrell, director of community advancement at the West Virginia Development Office.

RISE had built 350 homes and 42 bridges as of the end of November, spending $82 million in federal funds. Officials hope to complete the construction of 37 more new homes by June 2022.

West Virginia Pandemic's Toll Compared To Deadly 2016 Floods

West Virginia will end September with its deadliest monthly toll from the coronavirus pandemic as officials put a new spin — a 2016 deadly flood — on their exhaustive pleas for residents in one of the lowest vaccinated states to get their COVID-19 shots.

“We’ve got to act,” Gov. Jim Justice said Wednesday. “That’s all there is to it.”

Justice and retired National Guard Maj. Gen. James Hoyer, who leads the state’s coronavirus task force, discussed the June 2016 flooding that killed 23 people statewide along with the destruction of countless homes, businesses and infrastructure.

Hoyer spent a great deal of time responding to what the National Weather Service labeled as a 1,000-year flood event. It was the worst in the county where Justice owns the Greenbrier resort.

At a news conference, Hoyer said that while a lot of work was done aimed at mitigating future floods, the same thinking and efforts must be made during the pandemic to avoid what could be far more COVID-19 deaths.

Based on 3,642 total deaths since March 2020, West Virginia is going through the equivalent of 158 2016 flood events, Hoyer said.

“We’ve got to get people educated and we’ve got to get vaccinated so that doesn’t go up to 200 or 300,” Hoyer said. “So West Virginia, please get educated on the value of the vaccine and get vaccinated.”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, West Virginia had the nation’s lowest vaccination rate among the states per 100,000 population. And it also had the second-highest rate over the past week in cumulative virus cases per capita.

West Virginia hospitals continue to be stressed by the number of COVID-19 patients, including a record 298 in intensive care units.

And there have been 558 virus-related deaths this month alone. That’s more than the previous four months combined.

September’s toll includes 73 people, or 13% of the monthly total, who were considered breakthrough cases — those were vaccinated but suffered from underlying health conditions.

Justice highlighted the need both for unvaccinated people to get their shots and for those who already have them to consider getting a booster shot.

“We’re going to lose a bunch of more people, West Virginia. There’s no question about that,” Justice said. “Absolutely, for them, for respect for them, I truly believe that all we’ve got, all we can possibly do to stop this is to get vaccinated.”

W.Va. To Receive $52 Million From FEMA To Rebuild Herbert Hoover High In Kanawha County

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide West Virginia $52.3 million to rebuild Herbert Hoover High School after devastating flooding in 2016 damaged the building.

The original school building was demolished last fall after it was determined to be beyond repair.

West Virginia Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin made the announcement of the funding from FEMA in a press release Friday.

Since the 2016 flood, students and staff at Herbert Hoover High School have held classes on the grounds of Herbert Hoover Middle, outside of Clendenin in Kanawha County. The high school has been operating out of fenced in portable structures linked with a covered pier since 2017.

Students have access to science labs, smart TVs and a commons area with a covered plaza.

Herbert Hoover High’s Principal Mike Kelley said in a phone call with West Virginia Public Broadcasting that he and his staff are excited to finally be moving forward. He said, while they are grateful for the temporary facility, it is not built to last like the new building will be. He said the new building will allow the students and community to flourish and create a “new home for the Huskies.”

The new school is expected to be completed in 2021.

This summer marked three years since the 2016 flood that killed 23 people, destroyed homes, schools and businesses, and caused about $300 million worth of damages.

West Virginia Board Does Revote on School Rebuilding Plan

Under the threat of a lawsuit over transparency, the West Virginia School Building Authority board has done a revote over rebuilding Nicholas County schools damaged by the June 2016 flood.

News outlets report the board voted again unanimously to allow using Federal Emergency Management Agency flood recovery money to consolidate schools after attorney James Barber and Stu Matthis with STV Engineers alleged state open meetings act violations over the first vote on Sept. 4.

Barber and Matthis, acting for Richwood High School alumni and some parents, raised concerns that board members didn’t know exactly what they were voting on because there were errors in a site selection evaluation document comparing two places where Richwood schools will be rebuilt.

The Nicholas board intends to locate Richwood Middle and High schools at Cherry River Elementary school.

Flooding Hits Panhandles, Hurricane Florence Expected to Hit Southern W.Va Later this Week

Both the Northern and Eastern Panhandles are experiencing flooding this week as rain continues to fall on the two regions. Preparations are also being made across the state to respond to possible heavy rainfall from Hurricane Florence at the end of the week.

Northern Panhandle Flooding

Emergency management officials are expecting the Ohio River in the Northern Panhandle to crest Tuesday afternoon at 39 feet – which is lower than previously anticipated, and one foot lower than what’s considered the “moderate flood” level.

Some low-lying areas surrounding the river are expected to take water nonetheless, and cleanup plans are in place to help pump water out of basements and remove any mud and debris.

Officials have been managing minor flooding around swollen creeks in the region, but report that those creeks are now back within their banks.

Eastern Panhandle Flooding

In the Eastern Panhandle, the National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan Counties. The Opequon Creek near Martinsburg and the Potomac River are in flood stage and are expected to remain so for 24 to 48 hours.

The National Weather Service has also issued a hazardous weather outlook for Berkeley, Jefferson, Morgan, Hampshire, Hardy, Grant, Mineral and Pendleton counties. It will remain in effect through Sunday.

Officials with Jefferson County Emergency Management report that despite high water throughout the region, no major issues have been reported.

Hurricane Florence Approaches

Both panhandles and the entire state are preparing for what’s coming at the end of the week – heavy rainfall from Hurricane Florence.

Lora Lipscomb, the Public Information Officer for West Virginia Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said Hurricane Florence is expected to hit southern West Virginia at the end of this week. She said officials are expecting rainfall from the storm to begin possibly Thursday or Friday.

WV DHSEM officials are also stationing switfwater rescue teams and National Guardsmen in the region and is making resource preparations before the storm lands.

Lipscomb said they do not know yet how bad the storm could be, but the WV DHSEM is in contact with the National Weather Service and statewide emergency officials.