CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Transportation Secretary Todd Rumbaugh says 37 DOH workers personally impacted by the July 21 flood in Lewis and Upshur counties took their first days off this past weekend.
Rumbaugh told state lawmakers Monday they had to force them to do it.
“We had to mandate that they take either Saturday or Sunday off. They’ve been working seven days a week and a minimum of 10 hours a day for 14 to 16 days,” Rumbaugh said.
Rumbaugh supplied a flood response update during legislative interim committee meetings. The DOH has been busy in Boone, Logan and Raleigh counties from the June 24 flood and in Lewis, Upshur, Ritchie and Pleasants counties from last month’s flooding and tornadoes.
Rumbaugh said he changed the flood response philosophy when he was appointed cabinet secretary by Gov. Patrick Morrisey last year.
“Our philosophy now is, and this is in my discussions with the governor, we are in agreement that we need to go out and return these roads to their original, better condition as fast as possible,” Rumbaugh said.
He described the philosophy of previous administrations as “they would cut the road open and then they would disappear and it would take years and years to get it cleaned up.”
Senator Robbie Morris, R-Randolph, said emergency officials have noticed the change.
“In talking with current and former Office of Emergency Management directors and anyone else involved in the recovery process, they’ve definitely seen your new shift in philosophy on floods and it’s very welcome,” Morris told Rumbaugh Monday.
Sen. Ben Queen, R-Harrison, said the DOH’s work in removing debris has been key.
“I’ve personally seen firsthand the amount of expediency…..I think the DOH teams being there to help the National Guard has been a great help,” Queen said.
Rumbaugh said a lot of work will need to be done at the DOH Equipment Division Headquarters in Buckhannon. He said 30 new trucks were destroyed in the flood. He said the number would have been higher without the quick-thinking workers.
“They went in and started driving the tandem trucks, brand new, that we had on the lot out of that because they were the most expensive and then went back and started to remove the full-size F250 King Cab trucks but they did not get all of them out,” he said.
The flood destroyed the training center that was on the Buckhannon property including several new simulators.
“We’ve taken a pretty big hit there,” Rumbaugh said.
Rumbaugh also told lawmakers 47 state bridges have been impacted in Lewis and Upshur counties and four bridges remain closed. He said the other 43 need various repairs.
There have been more than 31,000 cubic yards of flood debris removed and 16,000 tons of roadway and shoulder stabilization work completed.
Overall damage numbers are still being calculated. A federal disaster declaration means the state will get 75 percent of the cost funded by the federal government.
Rumbaugh said the DOH has spent $1.5 million in Boone County following the June 24 event and lesser amounts in Logan and Raleigh counties. He said one bridge was destroyed in Boone County which has been replaced by a causeway. Rumbaugh said the DOH will build a new bridge there.
The Trump White House has denied a federal disaster declaration for the June 24 flood but Morrisey has announced he plans an appeal. Rumbaugh said if there’s no federal reimbursement for the work the cost will come out of the individual county’s annual plan.