WEST VIRGINIA (WOAY) – Three and a half years after West Virginia’s devasting 2016 floods, communities are still rebuilding.
Being one of the most flood-prone states in the nation, the summer months always come with a certain level of fear and concern from the residents that such a catastrophe could happen again.
Over the years, flood protection and mitigation have vastly improved in the state, even establishing a new state Resiliency Office to help control the issue.
However, in a press briefing on Tuesday, Governor Justice said that more flood control needs to be happening as the risk of its severity is always a possibility.
One suggestion he had was to build more man-made lakes, saying that it could potentially be beneficial in more ways than one.
“We could do it from a flood control standpoint that would be very, very beneficial to our citizens, but from a standpoint of tourism and recreation, it could bring so much goodness to our state because the quality of our waters is unbelievable,” Justice says.
Justice challenged agencies across the state to look into the prospect, as well as other ways they could do more with the increased amount of funding to mitigate the risk.
