CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Two more counties have been added to the federal disaster declaration over the February 15th floods. Governor Patrick Morrisey announced Wayne and Logan County flood victims can now qualify for individual assistance from FEMA for damages caused by the high water in the event.
“I think in the last count we had 164 homes that were affected, eight businesses and two churches,” said Logan County Emergency Services Director Roger Bryant.
Bryant added four of those homes were a total loss. Most of the damaged homes were along the Guyandotte River and stretched all across the county rather than being bunched up together in one hard hit spot.
“Maybe two homes or three homes, it added up but it wasn’t like a large area that got flooded,” Bryant explained.
It could have been worse. Bryant said the original projected crest for the Guyandotte River was 31 feet which would have flooded the Logan County 911 center. Fortunately the crest was 28 feet and spared many homes and lessened the damage for many others.
In Wayne County the situation was different. Most of the flood damage in Wayne County was in the area of Crum along the Tug Fork River and Jennie’s Creek not far from the Mingo County border. Mingo County was already a disaster area and a lot of the damage there was in the Kermit area not far from Crum.
“The Tug Fork River which affected Mingo County, if you look at the map down in the southern tip of Wayne County, that’s right in the same area,” said Wayne County Emergency Services Director B.J. Willis.
Willis said there were a couple of homes in his county which were total losses and 20 to 30 more which were impacted to the point residents had to move out, but they are salvageable.
Those who incurred damages in the two counties, just like those who had damage in Mingo, McDowell, Wyoming, and Mercer Counties need to start with registration through FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA or on-line at disasterassistance.gov A FEMA representative will contact you and set up a time for an inspector to take a look at the damage.
So far more than a Million dollars in individual assistance has been granted in West Virginia. FEMA has field offices set up in Williamson, Princeton, Pineville, and Bradshaw. It’s anticipated they’ll soon set up offices in Wayne and Logan Counties as well.