Flood recovery is a marathon, not a sprint
"The flood," of course, refers to the horrific flash flooding that inundated much of
These past two years have brought an odd mixture of surprisingly rapid and disappointingly sluggish rebuilding, restoration and rehabilitation to the affected communities.
As all have discovered, flood recovery is a marathon, not a sprint.
Just six weeks after the flood, ground was broken for
With all of those individuals and organizations, plus many others, working under the umbrella of Crabtree's Homes for
"We're pretty fortunate," Mayor
"They were very impressed with what the city is doing," Coleman said.
The Texans, she said, went home with the information they needed to begin work on a similar endeavor, which they dubbed "
Among the similarities between the two projects are that they both are driven by nonprofits and contain a community park.
Homes for
White Sulphur officials estimate that city government incurred more than a million dollars in federally reimbursable expenses from the 2016 flood. On top of the civic and commercial losses in his town, the mayor said he has seen figures that indicate around 75 homes were destroyed and another 100-plus sustained damage.
At least 10 dilapidated structures from that toll remain to be demolished, according to county records.
In addition to the residential and parkland improvements, White Sulphur's downtown business district has seen several new businesses open and established businesses, like RockFab and
Among the new businesses in town are Greenbrier Off-Road Adventures, Almas FryBread Tacos and the Barnwood Living showroom.
Marking today's two-year anniversary of the flood,
Also decimated by the 2016 flood,
The "Rebuilding Rainelle" project that was launched almost immediately after the floodwaters had receded has been a huge blessing for her town, according to Mayor
"Without our volunteers, we wouldn't be anywhere," Pendleton told
Several businesses that were all but destroyed by the flood also have reopened, with such landmarks as Fruits of Labor Café and Western Auto lending patches of vibrancy to a downtown district in which many of the buildings were damaged.
And town officials received another piece of good news recently when they were notified that bids will soon be awarded by the state's RISE flood recovery program for demolition of five dilapidated
Police Chief
"It was about to fall into the street," Stevens said.
After the demolition is completed, Stevens said, "We can start making progress."
New sidewalks are planned for
For the past two weeks, a crew from a
Stevens noted he has encountered problems locating owners of several abandoned properties that need attention. He said it's getting to the point that the town may have to secure liens on the properties in order to proceed with remediation work. To find out how to avoid that, people who own property in
Pendleton also is still pursuing an in-town trailhead for the
"I've got hopes and dreams," Pendleton said.
Emergency Management
While he said the rest of the county -- excluding
"We know that in
Adding to the uncertainty of full flood recovery is the lack of information available about federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) funding.
"Officially, we've had three grants awarded for generators," Whitaker said.
But
"We're still waiting to see about the rest," Whitaker said. "There's no timetable for a federal response."
Meanwhile, the county emergency responders' capacity to respond to the next flood event continues to be fine-tuned.
One of the biggest changes thus far, Whitaker said, is that the county now has the necessary equipment to properly shelter the household pets that would be displaced during a wide scale emergency, as federal law requires. A
Water rescue capability is also a large part of flood response, and Whitaker said improvements have been made in that arena.
"
Also, he said, many members of the county's various volunteer fire companies are part of
"
Individuals are also urged to take precautionary measures.
"We're pushing for people to sign up for our advance notification system," Whitaker said.
Disaster alerts and warnings of impending dangerous weather conditions are sent out from the system via cell phones, landlines, emails and texts. To sign up, visit greenbriercountyhsem.org, scroll down to "Greenbrier County Public Notification System" and click on the link.
Another point of emphasis for Whitaker is the need for people to sit down and prepare a family emergency plan and assemble an emergency kit that can be grabbed up at a moment's notice.
In addition to having food, water and a flashlight, Whitaker said, that kit should include cash (recognizing that credit cards and checks may not be accepted during a power outage), five to seven days of necessary medications and copies of important documents, like
"We have shelters in place all around the county," Whitaker noted. "They're not open all the time -- just as needed. When something happens, we do our best to reach out to the media and keep everyone informed."
-- Email: [email protected]
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