10:06am: Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval

Tomblin signs flood relief funding bill

ELKVIEW, W.Va. — Governor Earl Ray Tomblin told the Elkview Middle School community HB 201 “could very well be the last bill I sign as your governor.”

State and local leaders joined together Tuesday afternoon at the school, which was one of the hardest hit areas in West Virginia during the June 23 flood, to witness Tomblin sign the flood relief bill into law.

The bill will provide $85 million in funding as part of cost of the June flood. State lawmakers passed the measure during this week’s special session at the state Capitol.

“I know the Legislature realizes the importance of being able have our matching funds so we can continue to get the federal money flowing in here,” the governor told reporters. “There was very little question about what we need to do.”

The $85 million represents 25 percent of the projected cost of the flood. FEMA will pick up 75 percent. Tomblin said he’s hopeful FEMA will change their match rate from 25 percent to 10 percent, so the state can meet the threshold to eventually get a 90/10 split in funding.

The road to recovery will take years, Tomblin said.

“This is not something that’s going to be fixed overnight. I mean we’re probably looking four years or five years down the road before all this money is spent,” he said.

Herbert Hoover High School and Clendenin Elementary were destroyed in the flood. Students from both schools have been attending classes at Elkview Middle and Bridge Elementary on split schedules. Tomblin said it was important to hold Tuesday’s news conference in the flood zone.

“It has been a focus of the flooding in Kanawha County. I just thought this would be the place because half the money that we’re going to be spending is going to be for new school buildings, for education,” he said.

House Speaker Tim Armstead (R-Kanawha, 40), state Senate President Bill Cole (R-Mercer, 06), state lawmakers, the Kanawha County Commission and others were also on hand Tuesday.

Mike Kelly, principal at Herbert Hoover, joined the governor in the school auditiorim. He said it meant a lot to have Tomblin sign the bill in front of students and faculty.

“Everybody has been on board fighting for this community and I think the way that the Legislature acted along with the governor’s direction and passed this bill so quickly and got it signed, it just further demonstrates how our public servants from both sides of the aisle have reached out for this community,” Kelly told MetroNews.

Hoover students have been attending Elkview Middle until portable classrooms can be built on site. Kelly said there’s no official date of when those portables will be constructed.

“We hope to have a little better idea about timeline over the next couple of weeks,” he said.





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