CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Federal Emergency Management Agency last week committed $131 million toward the rebuilding of Nicholas County schools impacted by the 2016 flood. The funding announcement marked a couple of milestones in the recovery from three and a half years ago.
It was a relief to parents and students who attend those temporary schools in Nicholas County and are hoping to soon be back in a new building.
But the less noticed impact of the announcement will probably have the most far reaching impact. With the $131 million, FEMA has now obligated $307 million for the 2016 flood recovery in West Virginia and is now over the threshold to lower the reimbursement level from state funding.
“With disasters, typically FEMA pays 75 percent and non-federal entities have a liability for 25 percent. The Nicholas County Schools put us past that threshold, so the FEMA amount goes to 90 percent and the non-federal part goes to ten percent,” said West Virginia Secretary of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Michael Todorovich.
The threshold is a calculation based on $137 per-capita of population. Therefore, the threshold to trigger the 90/10 match is different for every state. It turns out West Virginia’s threshold figure is approximately $250 million.
Todorovich said meeting the threshold is bitter sweet since it shows the incredible level of damage and destruction still left from the flood nearly four years later. However, it also lowers the level of funding the state will have to commit to flood recovery projects.
“It’s money that typically can be used for other things. Some of it could come out of the contingency fund. We’re working with things like the Water Development Authority for mechanisms they can use to help off set the 10 percent or 25 percent depending on the disaster. It gives us better levels for the federal dollars,” he said.
The money could come in the form of a reimbursement, but more than likely it will come in the form of cost readjustment since so many of the projects resulting from the flood remain open.
“The projects are done on something called ‘PW’s’ or ‘project worksheets’ . There are several project worksheets that remain open. The schools, some of the highways work hasn’t been done, so we’re not nearly done with the projects yet, but we’ve made great strides,” he said.
West Virginia’s congressional delegation sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Tuesday asking for approval of the cost-share increase.
“If granted, this cost share adjustment would modify — prospectively and retroactively — the federal cost share from 75 percent to 90 percent for all PA projects resulting from the June 2016 floods,” the legislators wrote. “We commend the tireless efforts of the local citizens and first responders who have worked diligently to assist in rescue recovery efforts, and we urge you to do everything in your power to make sure that our communities have the federal support that they will need to recover.”