WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — It’s been a busy month for the state Department of Homeland Security. The agency was already occupied with work to insure security at the Greenbrier Classic and operations move next weekend to Fayette County for the Boy Scout Jamboree. Mixed in with those major events have been pesky thunderstorms causing scattered flooding problems.
“It’s kept us busy,” said Homeland Security Secretary Jimmy Gianto. “But we had planned for all these things. We’ve been planning for the Boy Scout Jamboree for two years. We were ready for it and the site’s ready.”
Rain and storm activity delayed the final day of the Greenbrier Classic Sunday, but eventually the tournament finished with no major problems.
Gianto said the state has endured such a volume of rain, even the slightest downpour has now caused problems to crop up, but it’s not been anything they cannot handle.
“When you’re looking at federal resources like FEMA, you have to have significant damage before they’ll come in and assist,” Gianto said. “But the power companies and department of highways have been able to come in and get everything that happened this weekend taken care of relatively quickly.”
Gianto said none of the recent weather has caused catastrophic damage, but it’s been more “nuisance flooding” causing widescale minor damage in low lying areas. Weather service officials say the pattern which brought such a wet period to West Virginia should soon start to change and bring more seasonal conditions.