SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA (WOAY) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency is continuing to provide federal disaster aid to survivors of deadly flooding that happened across southern West Virginia in late February. With the deadline to register looming on April 28, FEMA has officially approved more than 18 million dollars in federal aid.
“All in all, the support has been fantastic from the state and county level, and we’ve been reaching out to individuals and households and I think we’ve been very successful,” Mark O’Hanlon, FEMA federal coordinating officer, said.
Federal disaster assistance is already in the hands of flood victims in McDowell, Wyoming, Mercer, Logan, Mingo, and Wayne counties.
O’Hanlon said it typically takes seven to ten days to get money to people once an inspector prepares their report, although it can take some time to get the initial inspection set up. People who apply for assistance should expect to receive phone calls from numbers that don’t have a West Virginia area code.
“It takes some time for us to make the appointment sometimes. Our folks come from all across the United States, so we’re not calling people from area code 304,” O’Hanlon said. “If there’s a piece of documentation missing, we’ll send a letter. Sometimes those letters are a little bit unfortunately written, but if a person gets a determination letter, just come to the [Disaster Recovery Center] and we’ll help them understand the pieces of documents that we need to enable us to meet their financial needs.”
So far, there have been 3,992 registrations.
President Donald Trump has also authorized FEMA to begin offering public assistance to local municipalities. That program is getting underway.
“Public assistance is essentially two components. There’s the emergency work that happened right after the floods occurred. That’s basically anything to mitigate or limit the amount of the damage. If any roads had to be blocked, if additional law enforcement had to be brought in, if anybody had to do any sandbagging around municipal infrastructure, if there were additional staff brought on in order to provide assistance to the community’s debris removal, all those things fall under emergency work,” O’Hanlon said. “Then there’s a category called permanent work. If culverts were washed out or if culverts need to be enlarged, if roads or bridges were damaged, if public buildings were damaged, we’re able to assist with that.”
One way that FEMA is connecting with survivors is through its Enhanced Applicant Services. EAS specialists call disaster victims and check in on their application status.
“Generally, they are people who are expert in individual assistance in our programs,” O’Hanlon said. “It’s another way that we add a personal touch to support the people who need us and who are here trying to help.”
O’Hanlon said that the vast majority of southern West Virginians he and other FEMA personnel have interacted with have been welcoming.
“Everybody’s been very friendly, very open to working with us, understanding when our systems feel like they’re a little too bureaucratic so that we can help people understand how to access our benefits,” he said. “They’ve been very concerned for our well-being because we don’t know our way around here so well. They make sure we know how to get where we’re supposed to be going. They worry about us because we’re away from our families. We’re here with them. And I think they appreciate that our team is sacrificing to be here because all of our folks volunteer to be responsive to people in need.”
“Everybody’s been very friendly… They’ve been very concerned for our well-being because we don’t know our way around here so well. They make sure we know how to get where we’re supposed to be going.”- Mark O’Hanlon
With less than a month to go before the registration window closes, O’Hanlon says it’s not too late to ask for help if you need it.
“Even the strongest person needs help sometimes. So please, even if you’re not sure, come and see us. See what we can do for you,” he said. “Every family faces different circumstances. What we’re trying to do is help people navigate this recovery to make it as easy as possible, understanding that it’s very difficult for the people going through it.”
You can find a Disaster Recovery Center near you by clicking here.
