MERCER COUNTY, W.Va. – A major disaster declaration was issued on Wednesday for four southern West Virginia counties.
Those counties are Mercer, McDowell, Wyoming and Mingo counties.
Now we’re checking in to see when the Federal Emergency Management Agency may begin to move into the area.
Keith Gunnoe, Mercer County’s Emergency Management Director says he’s been in contact with FEMA officials and say they could be in Mercer County by this weekend.
However, he says the details for establishing a disaster recovery center as well as other planned work for the agency are still being worked out.
In the meantime, Gunnoe says people should still be filling out the damage assessment survey being pushed out so that county and federal leaders can get a clear idea of who has been affected by flooding. He says you should also be documenting damage done to your property.
“You need to make sure you’ve got good photos of that damage obviously and good documentation if you’ve spent money already out of your own pocket for recovery,” said Gunnoe. “Save those receipts because when you speak with FEMA and start through that process they will want that documentation to help assess your loss and what availability of assistance they have.”
Gunnoe says right now Mercer County has only qualified for individual assistance but says there’s a good chance the area gets approved for public assistance as well due to the amount of infrastructure that’s been damaged.
If you’ve been affected by the flooding in the disaster areas approved you can go here to request assistance from FEMA.
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