WEBSTER SPRINGS, W.Va. — West Virginia Senator Greg Boso (R-Nicholas, 11) wants financial assistance from Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin after rain and flooding did nearly $500,000 worth of damage to Webster Memorial Hospital last week.
Boso wrote a letter to the governor this week asking for funds to repair the facility, restore dispensable items lost during the event and restore essential medical services. Gov. Tomblin has not replied yet.
“What I’m trying to do is make sure that the governor is aware that there’s significant devastation to the hospital,” Boso said on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
Many of the roads that lead to Webster Memorial were impassable and a road passing the hospital was ripped apart.
Boso, who made a visit to the hospital last week with Webster Springs Mayor Don McCourt, said the kitchen area sustained major damage. Some windows were left shattered, water and debris filled some rooms up to a yard that flowed into the hallways and washed out several walls.
The emergency room opened shortly after the flooding took place. Inpatient services were up and running a few days later through a mobile kitchen.
“They need help,” he said. “They are functioning and we are thankful for that, but we’re going to have to come to a permanent resolution by the time winter time gets here in just a few months.”
Webster Memorial is located about 150 feet above the flood level of the Elk River and 250 feet outside the flood zone on the National Flood Insurance Program map.
“You wouldn’t have anticipated having to need flood insurance for situations like this,” he said. “Who would’ve thought that that little stream would’ve ran out of its banks and into the doors of the hospital.”
Boso said there have been questions about flooding insurance due to the hospital’s location.
“If there’s not flood insurance, a declaration of disaster would be of very much assistance that could be sought after by the hospital, to take care of the issues that they have there.”
Last week, Tomblin declared a state of emergency in Webster County as well as in Wood and Braxton counties.