CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The White House declared a federal disaster for several counties of southwestern and southern West Virginia following flooding in February and March. The high water came on the heels of a major ice storm which just a week earlier knocked out power to thousands of West Virginians for several days. However, the ice storm and the flood were separate disasters.
The White House Declaration offered public flooding assistance to Boone, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mingo, and Wayne counties. Individual assistance for private home owners who incurred damage will qualify for a certain level of aid to repair their personal property caused by the flood in Cabell, Kanawha, Mingo, and Wayne Counties.
“It gives individual assistance for four counties for the flood we had between February 27th and March 4th. This does NOT involve those counties affected by the ice storms,” said Lora Lipscomb, Public Information Officer for the Department of Emergency Management.
For those four counties which met the threshold of personal property damage, individual flood victims can apply for FEMA assistance. FEMA will send a team to your property to assess your damage and help determine what level of assistance you’ll receive. The first step is to register at 1-800-621-3362 or online at disasterassistance.gov.
“They’re on the ground now. They’ve brought in five teams and they plan to get started this week,” Lipscomb said.
Those countess who qualified for government assistance will be able to apply for reimbursement for the flood response as well as the cost to repair and restore infrastructure impacted by the high water event.