BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — The long-term recovery effort in Upshur County after the July 21 devastating flood is up and running.
Upshur Partners Lifting Individuals & Families Together (UPLIFT), is an operating municipal entity with officers, committees, a governing board, and a long list of flood recovery tasks.
Upshur County Commission President Kristie Tenney said UPLIFT is comprised of citizens, business people, nonprofits, and elected officials. The group is looking at requests for help from nearly 500 families more than two months after the flood. As relief organizations have moved out of the area, UPLIFT becomes the clearinghouse to find resources to meet the needs of flood victims still suffering.
“Where Samaritan’s Purse and the Fuller Center and those organizations are coming into build, there are still needs that are unmet,” Tenney said Tuesday on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.” “We’re coming in there to look at each individual case and still receiving cases daily.”
The Hope Line served the residents of Upshur and Lewis counties and has been replaced with a new contact number directly to the UPLIFT group. The group meets regularly to monitor recovery progress and review new requests for help that come in almost daily.
“The Hope Line has since been taken down,” Tenney said. “So, call 304-439-4698; that is currently the UPLIFT contact number, and we can get you in the system and start working on your case.”
There are still homes that need to be mucked out and others that need to be torn down to make way for new construction. Tenney said the list of needs would be cash donations, donations of labor, building materials, and equipment that could be used in the cleanup and rebuilding process.
“It is scattered,” Tenney said. “Several are in the county, but our city was also hit hard, so it’s a combination of county and city residents.”
UPLIFT has six committees that review requests for help and enter them into the process to be reviewed for approval.
Tenney also urged residents to see representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The last day for flood victims to submit to FEMA for individual assistance is this Saturday, Oct. 3. Current numbers in Upshur County show about 700 people have filed FEMA claims, Tenney said.
“They’ll begin working as we bring them cases and what the needs are,” Tenney said. “The core group of individuals will meet regularly to review the cases.”
Tenney said UPLIFT will likely operate for at least a year or more in the current form. Once the flood recovery is considered complete, the organization will stand down but will remain at the ready in the event of another disaster.
“It’s our hope this program will continue beyond the flood so that if another disaster were to hit Upshur County, we can pick up where we left off and continue to help the needs in our community,” Tenney said.