Community Corner: Don’t hold your breath for a federal disaster declaration

WFP founder Justice Hudson says we should continue to push our elected officials to seek a federal disaster declaration in Ohio County, but we shouldn’t count on it materializing.

On June 14, a devastating flash flood struck several communities in Ohio County after four inches of rain fell in under an hour. Described as a ‘natural disaster,’ ‘unicorn event’ and a ‘100-year-flood,’ the deluge of water saw Little Wheeling Creek run high and overtake roads, homes and businesses. We now know nine people died that night.

State and local officials responded swiftly to the flooding event.

With the town of Triadelphia and village of Valley Grove seeing the brunt of devastation, and Triadelphia’s volunteer fire department itself being inundated by the waters, the city of Wheeling stepped up to assist their neighbors. Beginning the night of June 14 and continuing through the days after, Wheeling’s first responders assisted with dozens of swiftwater rescues and monitored streams, creeks and the Ohio River in search for the missing and injured. Ohio County authorities, including the sheriff’s office and county emergency management agency, assisted efforts, too, helping coordinate the response. Other authorities from Brooke and Marshall counties, Belmont County, Ohio and Washington County, Penn. sent crews, too.

For the state’s part, Gov. Patrick Morrisey came to Wheeling on June 15 where he announced a state of emergency declaration activating the state National Guard, state police, West Virginia Emergency Management Division, Division of Highways and the Department of Natural Resources to support the county. The state also launched a disaster survey saying the information would help in establishing the criteria needed for a federal disaster declaration, and local authorities and volunteers swarmed the impacted areas to ensure the surveys were completed.

Throughout all of this, authorities leading the rescue-turned-recovery mission said that the federal government was aware of the destruction. The state’s Congressional delegation penned a letter to President Donald Trump on June 20 – the same day as the state’s 162nd birthday – urging he “carefully review” a request made by Morrisey the same day requesting a Major Disaster Declaration and an Emergency Declaration. Now approaching three weeks since that request was made, no word has yet come on when, or if, those declarations will be approved.

Why does Ohio County need these federal disaster declarations, anyways? FEMA.

After a natural disaster occurs, the Federal Emergency Management Agency can conduct a preliminary damage assessment at the request of a state’s governor. That is occurring now in Ohio County, but that assessment does not provide crucial funds to those who need it most. The agency’s Individual Assistance Program, which puts funds in the pockets of victims and survivors who need to repair or rebuild their homes, or relocate entirely, is only unlocked when a federal disaster declaration is made by the president. FEMA’s Public Assistance Program is vital, too, unlocking funds for municipalities. These funds are critical for places like Triadelphia who experienced significant infrastructure damage and where a councilor estimates 15-20% of the town’s population will be unable to return home, further reducing the town’s ability to pay for its own recovery. Again, this program is only made available through a federal disaster declaration. To say less, a federal disaster declaration would provide the funds no municipality in West Virginia could offer to help those who need it most.

So, will the declaration ever come? It’s hard to say…

It’s hard to say because Mr. Trump has taken sharp aim at FEMA for years, ramping up those attacks after retaking the White House and assuming office on Jan. 20. Earlier this month and just days before the June 14 floods, Trump said he planned to phase the agency out. “We want to wean off of FEMA, and we want to bring it down to the state level,” Trump said June 10 from the Oval Office. “A governor should be able to handle it and, frankly, if they can’t handle it, the aftermath, then maybe they shouldn’t be governor.”

I wonder what Mr. Morrisey, who is a fervent supporter of the president, thinks of this comment in hindsight? Maybe a governor from a state like California could cover the cost fully as that state already pays more to the government that it receives, but West Virginia is wholly reliant on its federal government to provide the resources it needs for its largely poor, elderly and sick populace. If federal financial support is cancelled in West Virginia, state financial ruin would not be far around the bend.

When southern West Virginia experienced its own devastating floods in February of this year, state leaders requested disaster aid for the 14 most-affected counties. Despite the request, FEMA denied individual assistance to seven counties leaving local and state officials to foot the bill if they could. In response to this gut-punch, Morrisey said he would seek an appeal, but said he was grateful for the Trump Administration and “their strong support for southern West Virginia's recovery following the February floods.” I wonder if those from the denied counties are so thankful?

Trump’s administration has, since taking office, declined or altered other federal disaster declarations, too. These include a request from Arkansas after devastating tornadoes killed three and injured 32, one from Washington state after a powerful windstorm that knocked out power to 150,000 households, and an aid extension request from North Carolina after last year’s Hurricane Helene decimated the western parts of that state. The president has ultimate discretion and decision making authority to issue a federal disaster declaration, but it’s clear more scrutiny has been placed on these requests.

Despite Trump’s adverse stance towards FEMA, he is still willing to unleash its awesome power.

On July 4, flash flooding hit Hill Country in Texas. Several inches of rain fell on the area as a storm stalled above Kerr County. The Guadalupe River rose 26 feet in just 45 minutes, a wall of water so immense that most people in its path had little, if any, time to react. At the time of publication, 89 are people confirmed dead including 27 children, with several more missing. The damage is still being assessed, but preliminary reports show that it to be massive and widespread.

President Trump acted swiftly in approving a major disaster declaration for Texas. The move was necessary and the quick adoption appreciated, but it begs the question: Will Ohio County ever see its own disaster declaration accepted? Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to compare these two events. The death toll in Texas is ten times higher than in Ohio County. And I’m not trying to belittle that community’s need for the sake of my own.

Two things can be true at once: Texas, reeling from this horrific storm, deserves to see federal aid, and West Virginia, reeling from its own natural disaster, does too. The federal government exists as an entity above all states. From those states, the federal government takes significant taxes from each and is tasked with spending those funds appropriately. An appropriate use is assisting in a community’s recovery efforts after Mother Nature strikes.

Ohio County needs federal aid. Without it, the harm done and trauma inflicted will be exacerbated. Without aid from Washington, the people of Ohio County will spend more time in unsafe situations waiting for help, they will spend more time cleaning up and rebuilding and they will spend more time draining their wallets setting up a concerning reality that when – not if – the next storm comes, there will be even less of a cushion for them to rely on. GoFundMe pages and mutual aid can only go so far without the help of the richest country on Earth.

We should continue to call our representatives in the state Legislature and in the governor’s mansion and urge them to push for a federal disaster declaration. We should continue to call our Congressional delegation and urge them to tell the president, “approve the major disaster declaration now.” Each day that goes by and a declaration is not approved, we should call again and ask “if not now, when?” And if the declaration never comes, the people of West Virginia should sincerely consider what happens when the next storm hits. How can our state, already facing austerity amid alleged budget shortfalls, fund its own recovery? How can we possibly recover from ever-increasing emergencies without the assistance of our federal government?

Community Corner is a Wheeling Free Press project dedicated to providing a space for our community to have their voices heard. If you would like to submit a story for our consideration, please email it to editor@wheelingfreepress.com.