CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Independence Day holiday weekend continued to be a working weekend Sunday for the thousands of people involved in recovery efforts in parts of West Virginia devastated by flooding on June 23.
By Sunday afternoon, rain was again falling in some Mountain State counties and emergency officials were looking ahead to and taking steps to prepare for the potential for heavy rain, high winds and hail out of storms on Monday’s July 4th.
“We’re paying very close attention to the weather,” Jimmy Gianato, director of the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, told MetroNews on Sunday.
“(We’re) Working with the National Weather Service and staying in close coordination with the responders in the field to make sure that, if these storms do materialize, that we’re ready to respond to those events and that they’re also safe.”
Early Monday morning, Flash Flood Watches from the National Weather Service were scheduled to take effect in 21 counties, including several of the counties on the Federal Disaster Declaration.
The search continued Sunday in Greenbrier County for one person still missing and presumed dead from the June 23 flood.
Two bodies were recovered Saturday in Greenbrier County. One was found along the Greenbrier River near Caldwell while a second was located under a debris pile on Howard’s Creek in White Sulphur Springs.
As of early Sunday afternoon, there were five FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers open in West Virginia.
– Summers County: Summers County Memorial Building Gym, 451 1st Avenue, Hinton
– Greenbrier County: Rainelle Town Hall, 201 Kanawha Avenue, Rainelle
– Greenbrier County: Southeastern Labor Council, AFL-CIO, 65 West Main Street, White Sulphur Springs
– Kanawha County: Kanawha County Schools Crede Warehouse, 3300 Pennsylvania Avenue, Charleston
– Nicholas County: Richwood City Hall, 6 White Avenue, Richwood
The Summers County site was the latest to join the list.
In addition to the DRCs, FEMA applications were being accepted by phone at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) and online at DisasterAssistance.gov.
Those eligible to apply for FEMA help are in the 12 Federal Disaster Declaration counties: Clay, Fayette, Jackson, Greenbrier, Lincoln, Kanawha, Monroe, Nicholas, Pocahontas, Roane, Summers, Webster.
As of Sunday morning, Gianato said more than 5,000 individual registrations were in with FEMA and more than $2 million in aid had already been paid out to people.
Along with individual assistance, public assistance and disaster unemployment assistance was also a possibility through FEMA.
Beginning on Tuesday, the following state agencies will be represented at the DRCs to assist flood victims: Department of Health and Human Resources, Division of Motor Vehicles, Tax Department, Insurance Commission, West Virginia Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters and West Virginia University College of Law.
During the coming week, Gianato said one of the main priority areas will remain identifying alternative housing for flood survivors. In cooperation with FEMA, state officials were developing a transitional housing plan.
“We have multiple parts of the state that we’re working to try to locate temporary housing for a lot of these victims,” he said Sunday.
Upwards of 700 people were staying at shelters or at The Greenbrier Resort which remained closed to guests, but open to flood victims, according to Gianato.
“We want to get them into some form of rental property or somewhere where they can stay for a few days until they can transition to a more permanent setting.”
On Wednesday, July 6, the U.S. Small Business Administration was scheduled to open two Business Recovery Centers. At those sites, owners of flooded businesses will be able to meet individually with SBA representatives to learn about low-interest disaster loans.
The locations announced are in Greenbrier County at the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Corporation, 804 Industrial Park, Suite 5, Maxwelton and in Kanawha County at the Charleston Area Alliance, 1116 Smith Street, Charleston.
Additional flood information for flood victims and those working on the flood response is available here and here.