RODERFIELD, WV (WOAY) – Disaster recovery efforts are still ongoing in southern West Virginia as federal disaster relief has crossed a major milestone.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been on the ground for nearly a month now, helping victims of severe flooding that occurred over Valentine’s Day weekend.
There are disaster recovery centers located at Bradshaw Town Hall, the Wyoming County Courthouse in Pineville, Oakvale Christian Church in Princeton.
A significant amount of aid has already been approved.
“We are approaching $10 million that’s now already in the hands of the residents of these six counties. It began with four counties. And then at the governor’s request, we added Logan and Wayne counties,” FEMA Media Relations Specialist Nate Custer said. “It’s a six county disaster, and FEMA is not ruling out maybe even adding additional counties. That’s still an open question that we’re looking at.”
According to the latest numbers released just this afternoon, FEMA has officially surpassed $10 million in aid approved.
One service FEMA is offering is a dedicated mitigation specialist that can provide resources and educate residents on safe clean-up procedures and mitigation actions to reduce the effects of future events.
“These are people who are skilled in how to rebuild disaster damaged homes to make them more disaster resistant. They’ve got a lot of pamphlets and brochures,” Custer said. “You stop by Jimmy’s Hardware any day, Monday through Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can get a lot of written material things dealing with everything from mold and mildew to how to take some of the structural members of the home and maybe rebuild them in a better fashion.”
Jimmy’s Hardware is located in Roderfield in McDowell County.
There is also a specialist at the disaster recovery centers in each county.
Specialists can also tell residents about programs that are available to homeowners, explain the building and permitting process, and provide information on flood insurance and risk reduction techniques.
