Summers County Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

FEMA Denies 7 Counties Individual Aid For Destructive February Flooding

The governor announced Tuesday night that FEMA denied his request for individual disaster aid to residents of Boone, Cabell, Greenbrier, Kanawha, Lincoln, Monroe and Summers counties affected by February’s severe flooding.

When flash flooding struck the region in early February, it claimed at least 27 lives between West Virginia and Kentucky, leaving widespread infrastructure damage in its wake.

Nearly two months later, federal aid dollars have been slow to roll out, even as some of the state’s poorest counties continue to feel the flooding’s effect. Now, some residents affected by the severe weather event have learned they do not qualify for federal financial support.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Tuesday night that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had denied his request for individualized disaster aid to affected residents of Boone, Cabell, Greenbrier, Kanawha, Lincoln, Monroe and Summers counties.

FEMA’s individual assistance program can cover costs for things like housing repairs and immediate emergency needs.

The governor’s office said FEMA also denied a request for public assistance dollars for Cabell and Kanawha counties. FEMA’s public assistance program helps local governments cover repair costs for things like roadways and public infrastructure.

Morrisey said he “will look at all options” to appeal FEMA’s decision in a press release Tuesday.

After the flooding incident, the governor requested FEMA aid for 14 West Virginia counties. The funding for seven counties had been approved, but Morrisey said in March he still awaited a response on the remaining counties.

“Despite today’s notification, I am grateful to the Trump administration for their strong support for southern West Virginia’s recovery following the February floods,” Morrisey said in the press release. FEMA aid requests must receive final approval from the president’s office.

Before this week, the agency had already approved individual assistance for residents of Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Raleigh, Wayne and Wyoming counties.

Additionally, the agency has granted Boone, Greenbrier, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers, Wayne and Wyoming counties access to public assistance funds.

For residents of these counties, the deadline to apply for individual aid through FEMA is fast approaching. These funds can only be used on costs not already covered by insurance.

Residents of Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Raleigh, Wayne and Wyoming counties have less than one week to apply for individual assistance over the February floods. Applications are due April 28, and can be submitted through the FEMA website.

For in-person support, residents can also visit four disaster recovery centers in West Virginia, located in McDowell, Mingo, Raleigh, and Wyoming counties. Visit the FEMA website to learn more.

W.Va. Receives Nearly $2 Million For Electric School Buses

West Virginia was allotted nearly $2 million in rebates from the United States Environmental Protection Agency this week to purchase electric school buses.

More than 25 million children across the United States ride the school bus each day, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. In West Virginia, approximately 220,000 students ride the bus each school day, according to transportation news source School Bus Fleet. But these vehicles emit greenhouse gasses that can harm both the environment and public health.

To address this, federal officials are encouraging schools to switch to electric buses. And new funds from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) aims to help four West Virginia school districts do just that.

The EPA this week approved a cumulative $2 million in rebates for West Virginia school districts that plan to purchase electric school buses this year.

The funding comes as part of a national rebate program for school districts making the switch to cleaner buses. In a virtual press briefing Tuesday, EPA Administrator Michael Regan described the program as a national priority.

“We’re advancing environmental justice and helping level the playing field for children who suffer from the higher rates of respiratory issues and other health conditions because of the air they breathe,” Regan said. “When we prioritize the health and well being of our children, we’re not just making a difference in their lives. But we’re also setting the foundation for a safer, healthier and more sustainable planet.”

West Virginia’s slice of the rebate is just a fraction of the $900 million provided by the EPA this year.

Calhoun, McDowell and Summers county school districts will each receive a rebate to purchase one clean school bus, and Randolph County will purchase two.

Efforts to convert West Virginia school districts to lower-emission school buses stretch beyond this latest round of funding.

In January, the EPA granted GreenPower Motor Company more than $18 million to build 47 electric school buses in its South Charleston facility, slated for nine school districts across the state.

During Tuesday’s call, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian said creating new union jobs through the construction of electric vehicles was an added perk for the Biden administration.

“Not only is this funding providing cleaner air, it’s also helping tackle climate change and creating good paying union jobs and electric school bus manufacturing,” she said.

But not all Americans back the transition to electric vehicles, including some West Virginians.

New federal standards that limit carbon emissions from gasoline-powered vehicles drew criticism from Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va. and U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., in March.

The lawmakers expressed concern that an abrupt switch to electric vehicles would place undue burden on American consumers, and potentially force them to rely on vehicles produced abroad.

When asked whether federal interventions like the rebate program are necessary to make a full switch to electric vehicles, Regan said that he didn’t want to get into “local politics,” and that the program has been popular nationally.

“Each year our program is oversubscribed. And so we have a lot of demand out there for electric school buses from districts all across the country,” he said.

The Clean School Bus Program was established in 2021, with funding for five years of operation.

Since then, Regan said the EPA has helped fund the purchase of approximately 8,500 electric and low-emission school buses by roughly 1,000 school districts across the country.

For school districts in West Virginia and beyond, rebates won’t come immediately. Schools must first buy the vehicles themselves, then send the EPA documentation of the purchase.

EPA officials said there is no singular timeline for when school districts will receive their new buses, but that purchases are likely to be made over the course of the next several months.

Child Behavioral Telehealth Services Coming To W.Va. Underserved Rural Areas

Already underway in the Summers County community of Hinton, a prototype program is offering mental health support for pediatric patients with diagnoses including depression, anxiety and ADHD disorder.

A prototype program is offering mental health support for pediatric patients in the Summers County community of Hinton. Diagnosis and treatments include depression, anxiety and ADHD disorder.

The new program is a collaboration between Appalachian Regional Healthcare and Marshall Health Network. On appointment days, patients visit a rural health clinic, and are connected virtually to a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP). In addition to conducting initial psychiatric evaluations and follow-up appointments, the PMHNP also prescribes and evaluates psychopharmacologic treatments alongside a collaborating psychiatrist.

Dr. Susan Flesher is the Department of Pediatrics Chair at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. She said psychiatric care is the perfect place for rural telehealth.

“It’s a little bit hard for us sometimes to think about a child coming in to look in an ear or listen to a heart,” Flesher said. “Those things take more technology on telehealth. With the care that we’re talking about, it’s a matter of talking with the child, the family, figuring out what the issues are, what the concerns are, doing some screening tests, providing therapy, medications, whatever the case may be. It’s perfectly suited to telehealth.”

Flesher said the program offers access to specific medical professionals that otherwise would not be readily available.

“There is a real shortage of psychiatrists and mental health nurse practitioners in rural areas,” Flesher said. “This is a service that they otherwise would not be receiving, or would have to travel a long distance to receive.”

Flesher said the Hinton program is a first step of an anticipated child mental telehealth network.

“We are in talks with some other places to expand this,” she said. “We don’t have signed contracts in place yet so I’m not necessarily free to speak, but we are definitely trying to provide this service where it is so very much needed, and there seems to be a lot of interest.”

The program is accepting new patients by referral. For more information, contact the Summers County ARH Rural Health Clinic at 304-466-2918.

Hinton Railroad Days Festival Gears Up For The Weekend

Thousands of visitors are expected to make their way to Summers County in southern West Virginia for the Hinton Railroad Days Festival this weekend.

The four day festival coincides with daily train rides from Huntington to Hinton on the Autumn Colors Express. The trip offers scenic views of the fall colors of the New River Gorge. All four trips are sold out after two years without making the trips because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event also features live music on two stages, food and local vendors. Music acts include Randy Gilkey, the Lincoln County Cloggers, and the Parachute Brigade.

There will also be a public lecture about the settlement of Summers and Monroe Counties at the McCreery Conference and Event Center on Friday afternoon.

The Hinton Railroad Days Festival is Thursday, Oct. 20 – Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022.

County Health Administrators Rise To Vaccine Delivery Challenges in Southern WV

County health department administrators in West Virginia are meeting daily to determine their next steps to getting West Virginians vaccinated as more doses become available and the state plan expands.

Administrators in Southern West Virginia say this statewide coordination effort has helped them to receive information quickly, even as it is evolving weekly with new groups like teachers included in vaccination groups.

Chad Meador, administrator of the Summers County Health Department, said after the state gives the orders, county departments, pharmacies, clinics and other medical establishments have two days to obtain the vaccines. COVID 19 vaccines are kept at five hubs across the state, including at the Osteopathic School of Medicine in neighboring Greenbrier County.

“We either have it delivered to us from one of the five hubs across the state by the West Virginia National Guard, or we go pick it up,” Meador said. “We elect to go pick it up.”

Officials say there have been some hiccups along the way across the region such as unorganized lines in Mercer County during the first day of public vaccination for those who are 80 years or older. Mercer officials moved things to a larger facility and called on local law enforcement to help with traffic.

In Summers County, Meador says the original challenge was simply having enough vaccines. After vaccinating residents who had made requests, the county was left with about 50 so they opened a community vaccination clinic. It was supposed to start at the Hinton Freight Depot at 11 a.m.

“I got there at 7:30 a.m. because something told me to just get there early,” Meador said. “People were already there. I had directed my staff to be there at 9 a.m. to begin just the planning process going over things.”

By 9:40 a.m. there were already 50 people in line. Meador says they probably turned away 75 to 100 people.

“That was very promising because I guess the silver lining for that day was it told me how many people really wanted the vaccine,” Meador said. “I think that’s going to continue, as the days move forward.”

Managing the unexpected during COVID-19 vaccination efforts was expected, but Meador says it comes with the mission of public health.

“We’ve responded to many crises throughout the years,” Meador said. “In Summers County we have a flood it seems like every five years so. We are called, we stop what we’re doing and we take care of it. We’re not necessarily primed and ready for a pandemic but we have a staff here who’s just equipped.

He added: “When you come into public health, you’re wanting to help people, and it kind of gets in your blood. We feel like it’s our task to do that. And we’re going to see it through.”

County health departments right now are focused on providing vaccines to people 80 years or older in the general population. According to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources website, professionals such as frontline workers and educators also have early access. Information about those vaccines should be attained through their employers.

September 12, 1872: The Big Bend Completed

The Great Bend Tunnel, also known as the Big Bend, was completed in present-day Summers County on September 12, 1872.

At more than a mile long, it cut off a seven-mile meander of the Greenbrier River and was the longest tunnel on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway.

About 800 men—many of them African-Americans—worked on the tunnel’s construction. The crew drilled through hard red shale that disintegrated when exposed to air, causing many rockfalls and landslides. Although the exact number of deaths will never be known, many construction workers lost their lives on the project.

Great Bend’s importance to railroad construction is undeniable, but the primary reason we remember the tunnel is a bit more debatable. According to tradition, the tunnel is where John Henry defeated a steam drill, becoming one of the world’s best-known folk heroes. While it’s not known for certain whether John Henry was a real person or whether he achieved his immortality at Great Bend, it’s clear that this heroic story of man over machine resonated with a 19^th-century America that was rapidly being transformed by modern technology.