KINGWOOD — Preston County Office of Emergency Management/911 is collecting damage reports related to Hurricane Ida and is working to clear blocked streams before another significant rain.
Director Duane Hamilton told the Preston County Commission at its Tuesday meeting about the circumstances in Rowlesburg and Fellowsville up through Tunnelton. The Green Valley area, in the southern part of the county, was also affected.
Hamilton said he doubts the county will meet the damage threshold for either public or individual assistance. However, people who were affected should still submit the report, which is available on the Preston Co E-911/OEM Facebook page.
“We want to do our due diligence in case we do meet the threshold,” Hamilton told The Dominion Post. The form will be available for about another week.
Not all the damage that happened is eligible toward getting federal assistance. For example, a bridge washed out that went to a field and not to a structure, Hamilton said. Assistant Director Justin Wolfe said there have been two or three bridges reported that don’t count towards the total. One had flood insurance which removed it from the total.
Wolfe explained public assistance is for government agencies and private nonprofits while individual assistance is for individual residences. Wolfe said to get a federal declaration for a state of emergency needs about $2.7-$2.8 million and as a county $128,000.
“So, I don’t think there’s any chance to meet either one of those, of course, you’ve got to be both,” Wolfe said. “So, if the statewide didn’t hit that much, then you don’t get the county. And it was pretty isolated in where it hit. So I don’t foresee really any, any federal declarations from this at all.
Hamilton and County Administrator Kathy Mace are working with the West Virginia Conservation Agency to unblock some streams that are clogged by dirt, branches, trees, and rocks.
“The real threat is if we get another significant rain these streams that are already plugged up will make the flooding worse,” Hamilton said.
Little Buffalo Creek in the Green Valley area and Salt Lick Creek between Rowelsburg and Terra Alta are the biggest issues.
Because of its urgency, Hamilton was able to work with the West Virginia Division of Highways to clear one blockage in the Green Valley area that was causing water to run through a house.
Mace is working with the WVCA to determine the details. One issue mentioned was access into the streams. There are also permitting matters and cost share.
Another issue is researching if a local state of emergency declaration will allow for some steps in the competitive bidding process to be sped up, Mace said. Hamilton said normally getting contractors is a lengthy process.
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