Nearly one month out from flooding, Virginia waits for FEMA response
VIRGINIA (WVVA) - Tomorrow marks one month since flooding devastated the Two Virginias, and the commonwealth is still waiting to hear whether or not FEMA relief will help communities devastated in Southwestern Virginia.
Governor Glenn Youngkin asked the White House for an expedited Major Disaster Declaration on Feb. 16.
“This is the fifth major flood in this area in the past five years and there is significant damage that is affecting community lifelines. It is critical that we provide relief,” Youngkin said at the time of his request.
Since then, Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) alongside Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) signed their names to a letter urging President Trump to approve Youngkin’s application.
“Unfortunately, this storm has resulted in at least four fatalities, caused significant damage to regional infrastructure, left over 203,000 customers without power at its peak, caused over 270 road closures including low water bridges and road washouts, resulted in multiple 9-1-1 center outages,” said the letter.
The West Virginia delegation authored a similar letter to Trump Governor Morrisey’s request approved 6 days later.
Morrisey’s request was sent to the White House on Feb. 17 and was not expedited.
Gov. Youngkin’s Feb. 16 request included Individual Assistance and Public Assistance for Buchanan, Dickenson, and Tazewell counties and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program assistance statewide. On February 26, Gov. Youngkin submitted an amended expedited Major Disaster Declaration request for Individual Assistance and Public Assistance that included Bland, Giles, Lee, Pulaski, Russell, Scott, Smyth, and Wise.
More than 150 water rescues were performed in Southwestern Virginia, some occurred in Tazewell County.
Some Richlands residents say this is the worst flooding they have ever seen.
“A Major Disaster Declaration is important to us, as it will open up desperately needed funding and resources to allow impacted Richlands residents to start to rebuild their lives and regain a semblance of normalcy,” said Richlands Town Council Member Laura Mollo.
Mollo thanks the Governor, Virginia’s US Senators, Congressman Griffith as well as State Senator Travis Hackworth and State Delegate Will Morefield for being a voice for Southwest Virginia.
“They continue to work closely with the President for this federal declaration but also pull for state resources to help in the meantime. Our Town Manager and Town staff continue to meet with local, state, and federal representatives to advocate on behalf of our citizens,” said Mollo.
As citizens wait for FEMA relief, they are coming together to do what they can to help rebuild their communities.
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