Housing options of ‘last resort’ in at least 2 flood counties will be FEMA mobile homes

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Mobile homes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will be a housing “option of last resort” for some flooded out residents in parts of Kanawha County and Greenbrier County, but such temporary homes will not be arriving in West Virginia immediately.

“It is a process that goes step by step,” explained Jim Homstad, media relations manager for FEMA.

“You identify the eligible applicants and then you have the public bidding out of contracts for the hauling and installation of the units and it’s important to point out that you can’t locate these units in a floodplain.”

FEMA housing specialists began working to identify those who may potentially be eligible for such mobile homes a week ago, according to Homstad.

“If we can get them home into a safe, sanitary and functional living arrangement, that would be the first preference. If not, then (the next option is) a use of local existing housing resources and then the last resort is the MHUs, manufactured housing units,” Homstad said on Tuesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”

Possible local existing housing resources include rental properties which are not in abundance in many flooded communities.

It was not immediately clear how many mobile homes would be utilized by FEMA in the aftermath of the June 23 flood or where specifically they could be located.

Homstad said needs were being evaluated on an individual basis.

The initial step in securing housing during flood recovery is to register with FEMA by phone at 1-800-621-FEMA, online at DisasterAssistance.gov, or by visiting one of the following FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers:

Kanawha County

– Kanawha County School Operations Center
3300 Pennsylvania Ave
Charleston, WV 25302

– Tent in parking lot across from Dollar General Store
120 Maywood Ave., W.
Clendenin, WV 25045
Hours: 8:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. daily

Nicholas County

– City of Richwood City Hall
6 White Ave.
Richwood, WV 26261

– Nicholas County High School
30 Grizzly Ln.
Summersville, WV 26651

Summers County

– Summers County Office
451 1st Ave.
Hinton, WV 25951

Roane County

– Geary Elementary School
9538 Clay Rd.
Left Hand, WV 25251

Webster County

– Webster Springs Municipal Building
143 McGraw Ave.
Webster Springs, WV 26288

Clay County

– Clay County High School
1 Panther Drive
Clay, WV

Fayette County

– Midland Trail High School
26719 Midland Trail
Hico, WV 25854

Pocahontas County

– McClintic Public Library
500 8th St.
Marlinton, WV 24954

Lincoln County

– Morrisville Fire Department Substation
2508 Straight Fork Rd.
Alkol, WV 25501

Monroe County

– Alderson Senior Center
317 Monroe St.
Alderson, WV 24910
Hours: 8:30 a.m. – 7 p.m. daily

DRC hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily unless otherwise noted.

As of Tuesday morning, 6,916 households were registered with FEMA and more than $27 million in individual disaster assistance had been approved.

FEMA was urging residents to carefully review letters from the agency. Often, officials said, more information is needed to determine eligibility and missing or erroneous information may cause delays in receiving disaster assistance.





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