CHARELSTON, W.Va. – Nearly two weeks after the historic flooding in southern West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey once again held a press conference to give an update on the recovery process.
The governor thanked the Trump administration for approving the Major Disaster Declaration and thanked the West Virginia delegation for the letter they wrote urging President Trump to approve funding.
Gov. Morrisey added that he believes there are two phases of dealing with a natural disaster, response and recovery, and that federal aid was not needed in the immediate aftermath of the flood.
“West Virginia was in a position to act quickly. That compares to other state that maybe have to apply for an emergency assistance because the feds had to come in and do some of the very work that we were doing and were ready to do,” said Gov. Morrisey
The Governor says he visited McDowell and Wyoming counties yesterday to assess what is happening in the hardest hit areas.
So many people are doing so many incredible things for their neighbors… they’re going out into the hollers to get people the food they need, the water they need, the help they need. To make sure they are able to take care of themselves.
Gov. Morrisey says the state is still offering aid, specifically highlighting the WV National Guard, Department of Transportation, Department of Environmental Protection. The National Guard has 108 soldiers deployed in Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Wayne and Wyoming Counties and have removed over 900 tons of debris created by the floods.
“I’m proud to tell you that as of this morning we do not have any no outstanding need requests we’re not already working on to address,” said Gov. Morrisey.
The governor also addressed that not all counties in his Major Disaster Declaration have not yet been approved for assistance saying that “this is a process.”
Boone, Cabell, Greenbrier, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Raleigh, Summers, Wayne, and Monroe Counties were in the original declaration request and at the time of this article’s publishing have not been approved for federal assistance.
“There will be more. As time goes on there will be more decisions that get made. I think they’ll be positive decisions,” said Gov. Morrissey.
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