ALDERSON, WV (WOAY) – On June 19th, several culvert pipes in residential areas were destroyed by a flash flood that left six residents unable to leave their homes in Alderson, WV. Now, The Greater Greenbrier Long-Term Committee is replacing the damaged pipes with three bridges that will give those residents access to the main road.
“We’re going to do what we can to help fundraise to offset the cost and to make sure that these property owners are safe,” said McCoy.
Kayla Mccoy Coordinator and Director of the Greater Greenbrier Long-Term Committee says the culvert pipes that were installed initially were not designed to withstand severe flooding. The non-profit is in the process of replacing the pipes with bridges so the residents will not have to worry about being trapped in their homes after a severe flood in the future.
“Here you can see the collapsed culvert that has been there for how many years before this flooding event. All that devastation downstream there were left when the culvert collapsed, and all the backed-up flood water,” said McCoy.
The process of building bridges is not always covered by state funding. According to Mccoy, Federal funding only includes bridge projects if there is more than one house on one side of the bridge.
“Disaster recovery funding if it comes from the federal government is very regulated and can only be used in certain applications,” said McCoy. “Typically, bridges are not one of those applications, especially if they only go to a single household, and not more than one family living on that side on the bridge. So it puts organizations like mine in a position we fundraise because if they were to build a bridge, it would be 40 to 50 thousand dollars.”
If you would like to donate, you can contact Kayla McCoy at 304-992-2062.
