On July 21, a severe series of storms passed through large sections of northern and eastern West Virginia creating damage to structures and highways, as well as causing damage from debris and rain-saturated hillsides. Last Thursday, President Donald Trump’s approval of disaster funding was announced by West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey.
Kanawha, Harrison, and Fayette counties were approved for individual assistance, while the state’s appeal on behalf of Boone and Logan counties was denied.
Public assistance will go to Pendleton, Tucker, Randolph, and eight other counties.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, that agency “provides two main types of assistance following a presidentially declared disaster: individual assistance and public assistance.” It defines individual assistance as “direct financial assistance to eligible individuals and families who have sustained losses due to disasters” and can help with both “uninsured or underinsured basic critical needs.” Assistance can cover rental assistance, lodging expense reimbursement, home repair assistance, “financial assistance to uninsured or underinsured disaster-caused personal property losses,” and other needs, including sanitation and cleaning assistance.
Applicants need a description of the damage, applicant contact information, 911 address “at time of the disaster,” insurance company, if appropriate, annual household income, bank account information for direct deposit, and any need for accommodation in application under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Pendleton County qualified for public assistance. This refers to “supplemental grants to state, tribal, territorial, and local governments, and certain types of non-profits, so that communities can quickly respond to and recover from major disasters or emergencies.”
Those non-profits could include schools, churches, hospitals, or public utility districts. Also “the public assistance fund is intended to benefit the public – neighborhoods, cities, counties, and states.” This designation could likely also include local conservation districts as well.
Grant funding can cover the cost of “emergency protective measures and debris removal (emergency work).” It can also cover “permanent restoration of damaged facilities” such as highway or road infrastructure, “water control facilities, utilities, public buildings, and parks in designated areas.”
Funds can also create “effective hazard mitigation to protect facilities from future damage (permanent work).” Other areas covered include clean up of disaster-related debris and restoring buildings and equipment of the qualifying non profits or government facilities.
That funding comes on a cost-share basis. This means that the federal government covers the majority of the cost while nonfederal entities cover the remainder.
