RUPERT, W.Va. — These West Virginia residents had two possibilities for flood relief and in almost three years neither one has paid off.
One was applying for a Hazard Mitigation Grant, which could have provided resources from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to buy out or flood-proof homes.
The other was RISE West Virginia, which dedicated $150 million in Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Relief from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“Neither one of them panned out at all so far,” said Brad Legg, a Rainelle resident whose house was flooded.
Hundreds of West Virginians are still seeking long-promised help with their homes after the catastrophic flood of June 23, 2016.
Comments from people in that situation are very similar. They have been getting by, despite very practical problems with their property.
But there’s an emotional element too: Early frustration has subsided. Hope has diminished.
Flood victims now describe that as the worst of what they’re going through.
From Legg: “Just used to it. Just used to it basically. I’ll believe it when I see it. It’ll be a blessing. I think there’s probably people who need it more than I do so I’ll just wait my turn.”
From Lawanna Vest, who lost two trailers to the flood: “It’s like some of us out here have been forgotten about. I just tried to level it out and just put it in my head that whatever happens happens.”
From Rachel Bittinger, who lost three separate rental properties to the flood: “I still don’t know which way to turn, where to go.”
The Joint Legislative Committee on Flooding resumes its work this Tuesday to determine how West Virginia can improve its response to natural disasters.
Early promises; bumpy progress
The flood hit on June 23, 2016.
It was historic and devastating. Between 8 to 10 inches of rain fell in a narrow window of 12 hours. The rushing water killed 23 people and destroyed houses.
In late 2016, state officials had a series of forums around West Virginia to tell people about Hazard Mitigation Grant money that could help.
A year later, in late 2017, a group of state officials decided to make a priority shift.
Millions of dollars for long-term housing relief had been granted through HUD for the program called RISE. That meant the Hazard Mitigation Grant could be steered toward millions of dollars in infrastructure needs, with less emphasis on housing.
“In November 2017, leaders met to discuss this new funding stream and discovered areas of overlap in the HUD and HMPG funding,” state Homeland Security and Emergency Management spokeswoman Lora Lipscomb stated earlier this month in response to MetroNews questions.
“Since HUD would cover many of the same individual property issues as HMPG, the leaders decided to focus HMPG on infrastructure projects. The infrastructure projects would serve many more citizens and help entire towns and counties become more resilient.”
Except RISE hasn’t worked out as intended.
West Virginia, after months and months of planning, made its request to start using the HUD money on Jan. 29, 2018.
HUD gave its OK on Feb. 20, 2018.
Shortly after that, Gov. Jim Justice and his staff expressed deep concerns about a contract extension for a consultant that had been hired to guide the flood relief effort.
A legislative audit later concluded that all those flood relief dollars still had not helped anyone.
On June 4, 2018, Justice announced he would shift authority for flood relief to the West Virginia National Guard. The governor promised “we’re going to fix it in a way that things move at light speed compared to how they’re moving before.”
Almost a year later, there has been progress. But it’s still slow.
A RISE status report at the end of this week showed the number of outstanding housing program cases remained at 465.
Completed homes numbered 49.
After a few months off of a “slow spender” list kept by HUD, West Virginia has been back on.
Of the total $149,875,000 that West Virginia has available, the state still has $135,955,542.
The prior month, West Virginia had $136,601,297 on hand.
West Virginia Adjutant General James Hoyer has said there are reasons for the continued sluggish pace. He has cited the technical challenges of completing required environmental reports for each property. He also cited the challenges of winter weather.
“For West Virginia, our recent 3-month average was $603,824, which was largely due in part to significant weather conditions that limited our ability to complete construction projects in an expedited manner,” Hoyer stated.
Hoyer said some ebb and flow of progress is to be expected. He said recent changes should allow the pace to pick up.
“Since the West Virginia National Guard took over in June under the direction of Gov. Justice,” Hoyer stated, “there have been numerous staffing and internal processes and procedures implemented to ensure the RISE program is moving forward at a rapid pace.”
Brad Legg’s house
Brad Legg had owned his three-story house with a wide porch since 2001. It’s right in the middle of Rainelle, Greenbrier County — just off Second Street. It doesn’t seem like a likely property to flood.
“Not many people have to swim through their own living room,” Legg said. “I had to swim through my living room to get to my staircase to get upstairs.”
He stayed there for more than 20 hours with his dog and two cats.
He ran a salon out of the house, so it was ruined too. So Legg immediately started looking for help. Legg filled out the paperwork for a Hazard Mitigation Grant. He was working through local officials.
“Then she said ‘Well, let’s go ahead and sign you up for another program called the RISE program. That way you can take either one, whichever one comes through first.’ That was fine with me.
“But,” he said, “as of this date neither one of them has come through.”
Legg wound up receiving Individual Assistance through FEMA. That gave him some money to repair his home, with help from Mennonite Disaster Service.
The house is habitable, but Legg has trouble considering it home.
“I don’t feel home. I don’t feel safe. Whenever it rains, I get the excitement again: ‘OK, is it going to flood?'”
Structural problems have re-emerged. The first floor, which was replaced, has started to buckle. The staircase is loose. The house leaks. The windows won’t open.
“The work that I did do is coming undone,” Legg said.
Selling the house is an unlikely option.
“No one would buy it now. I probably couldn’t give it away. They would have to tear it down. It just needs too much repair to it.”
His hope is to knock the home down and replace it with one of the mobile homes that RISE has been providing. He said that would help him start anew and feel safe.
“I was to the point where I was ready to let them go ahead and demolish the house and get a newer home that would be energy efficient and up to where I wouldn’t flood any more.”
He’s coping but frustration has set in. Legg talked about his circumstances at the salon that he has opened up downtown. It’s within sight of his house.
“I know I’m not the only one in need, but there was a lot of money there,” he said. “That could have put a lot of roofs over people’s heads. Not only me.”
Slow pace of help in Greenbrier County
Communities in Greenbrier County were among the hardest hit by the flood.
Help with housing has been hard to come by. Last month, the Greenbrier County Commission asked for updated numbers from RISE.
Few homeowners who asked for help have gotten through the process.
Home rebuilds completed: 1
Mobile home installations completed: 3
Home renovations completed: 0
Home rebuilds signed: 12
Mobile home installations signed: 3
Home renovations signed: 0
Home rebuilds still in case management: 48
Home renovations still in case management: 45
Mobile home installations still in case management: 10
Separately, officials in Greenbrier County say only six properties out of 41 applicants have been approved for funding through Hazard Mitigation Grants.
Lawana Vest’s trailer
Lawana Vest and her husband, Steve Hughes, lived in a doublewide trailer in Rupert, Greenbrier County. They were living there because they’d been flooded out of their previous home.
Parked near the doublewide was a trailer their grown son rented. They used the money as a little financial cushion.
When the flood hit, Vest was out of town receiving medical treatment. Hughes was in the kitchen, frying venison. He fled to another nearby home, higher up on a hill, and watched the destruction of his own two trailers.
“I just watched the water get into them. There wasn’t nothing I could do about it,” he said. “The water just kept rising.”
The couple lived in a tent for a while. Then they were in a camper for seven months. They got enough money from Individual Assistance through FEMA to buy a 1975 trailer. They live in that one but wonder if it was flooded, too.
She and Hughes were on the porch of that trailer last week as they described their experiences.
“It’s not exactly what I wanted, but it’s better than nothing,” she said.
Vest applied for a Hazard Mitigation Grant but hasn’t heard much. She pinned most of her hopes on RISE, but that’s been slow going.
They had hoped RISE would help replace the other mobile home, so they could return to renting it out.
“Nothing really. It’s just like it’s a runabout. I just feel like every time you talk to someone it’s just giving you the runaround,” Vest said.
“They tell you to wait a week, wait two weeks, wait four weeks, and it’s nothing. I call probably every week, every two weeks to see what’s going on.”
Vest said the housing problems and the battle with bureaucracy aren’t even the biggest problems.
“We need closure like a lot of people need closure,” she said. “You watch the news so much, and all this stuff is happening and it goes through your head that it’s a waste of time. That’s how I feel about it.”
Asked to describe the arc of her emotions over the past few years, Vest started to laugh.
The laughter was not because of joy.
“You have this hope and you’re feeling good and then all of a sudden it’s like you’re let down and you just get aggravated,” she said. “You just lose it you know, like there’s no hope for anything.”
Rachel Bittinger’s rental homes
Rachel Bittinger lives in White Sulphur Springs, and she’s OK. Her rental properties in Caldwell and Rainelle are another matter.
She had three rental properties total, using them for extra income. Now there is no income. Now there’s just a drain from the mortgage and property tax that she continues to pay.
“I definitely won’t say it made me destitute by not having it. It was bought as retirement income,” she said. “I’m doing fine. I’m OK if nothing happens.”
But her continued wrestling with flood relief has been discouraging. She, too, applied both for a Hazard Mitigation Grant and for long-term housing help through RISE.
On RISE, it seemed like she was making progress when she was called in to sign final papers. Then she got a call to reschedule. Then it was off indefinitely.
Looking back, Bittinger said, that was about the time a hiatus was declared over the suspicious contract extension.
“That’s when the infamous pause came about. Since then it’s crickets is about all I hear,” she said.
Asked whether she still has some hope, Bittinger also laughed.
“I never give up hope. We’re coming up on three years. I haven’t been told no,” she said.
But she scans the internet every day for updates. She is well aware how many housing projects are still out there.
I scan the Internet daily for updates and try to have a little hope.
“I know the money is still there. Most of it,” she said. “I don’t get what the holdup is.”
The West Virginia National Guard’s weekly status updates on flood relief suggest that any families who feel they still have any unmet needs or who are looking for an update on their case should contact the new VOAD office over the phone at 304-553-0927 or through email at DisasterRecovery@wv.gov.