WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito says a federal disaster declaration for the counties affected by severe flash flooding could come early next week.
Areas of Ohio County, including Wheeling, Triadelphia, Elm Grove, and Valley Grove, received four inches of rain fall in less than an hour from Saturday, June 15th, into Sunday, June 16th. The flooding damaged numerous homes and resulted in the deaths of nine people.
During a media call Thursday, Capito said that she was told directly by the White House that President Donald Trump would consider the application as early as next week.
Capito said she became frustrated when she was told about the continued delay.
“I said what’s wrong with the end of this week,” Capito said. “I think it’s a process thing that we’re caught in right now and we got to hope for the first part of next week.”
She said she was told the White House didn’t receive the disaster declaration until July 3rd, which surprised her.
Capito expressed her frustration, aligning herself with those most devastated by the flooding, and said she has been working to expedite the declaration process.
“I’ve taken this to the most aggressive level, not just a letter but talking to anybody and everybody to move this along, she said.
Ohio County Delegate Sean Fluharty is among those who have voiced frustration over the delay.
Fluharty was on MetroNews Midday recently to discuss the issue.
He said that since the flooding over Father’s Day weekend, the federal government has remained silent.
“The representation we have are the people on the ground, who are digging themselves out from houses that are destroyed, bridges that are dilapidated, many people can’t reach their homes,” Fluharty said. “And the governor came here, and I appreciate that he was here right after it happened, but we want results and actions, turns out all we have are photo ops at this point, federal delegation has been silent.”
He noted that the failure isn’t limited to the federal level.
“I think in large part it’s a failure at the state level as well, think about it Kentucky and Texas, what do they have readably available as well, aid packages from the state to combine with the forces of FEMA, what does West Virginia have, zero dollars in its flood resiliency fund that the GOP refused to fund,” Fluharty said.
He specifically pointed out that the state legislature has been more focused on pursuing issues that do not directly benefit West Virginians-despite the state being the susceptible to flooding in the Appalachian regional.
Fluharty noted that banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives was among the legislature’s top priorities during their session earlier this year.
“And we know that every expert under the sun says that the Appalachian Region, especially West Virginia is very susceptible to flash flooding all 55 counties,” he said. “Our state legislature is more concerned with about taking up issues like DEI than issues that affect West Virginians who d-i-e.”
He said that, at this point, there’s only so much the residents of the devastated communities can do on their own before outside assistance is needed.
“We lost nine lives in this small area, it’s devastating for the families, and their recovery efforts, there’s only so much we can do as a community, the bandwidth is running thin, the desperation is running high, and the results are nil,”
During the call, Capito acknowledged that residents have been in need of assistance.
“I know we do; we have a lot of people who need this individual assistance desperately that needed it for weeks,” she said.
A declaration would also cover Marion County who also saw flash flooding.