FEMA's refusal to help some West Virginia counties just a taste of what's to come
Last week, West Virginia Watch reporter Amelia Ferrell Knisely traveled to McDowell County to talk to residents about recovery efforts after the mid-February floods.
She found that many people still have soggy carpets and wet basements after more than two months. Houses are filled with mold. Trash is piled up outside. Some residents say they haven't seen anyone from the state or federal government in their small towns offering help.
And McDowell is one of the few counties that actually received federal funding for flood response.
In late February, the federal government approved Gov. Patrick Morrisey's request for federal aid. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has so far approved nearly 3,500 applications for individual assistance, and more than $25 million has been awarded to residents in Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Raleigh, Wayne and Wyoming counties.
Residents who receive that money can use it to cover the costs of temporary housing and home repairs.
About 94% of West Virginia communities are considered 'Special Flood Hazard Areas,' which means the more than 84,000 structures in those areas are at a high risk of flooding, according to a 2023 report by researchers at West Virginia University.
However, President Donald Trump has suggested that FEMA, which is the only agency currently that administers disaster relief funds, might 'go away.'
Last week it was announced that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency would cut 1,000 employees — or 20% of the workforce — from FEMA, just ahead of hurricane season.
On Wednesday, Morrisey announced that FEMA denied individual assistance grants to Boone, Cabell, Greenbrier, Kanawha, Lincoln, Monroe and Summers counties, and public assistance grants in Cabell and Kanawha counties for the February floods.
'Despite today's notification, I am grateful to the Trump Administration for their strong support for Southern West Virginia's recovery following the February floods,' Morrisey said in a statement.
We know you're not a native West Virginian, governor, but please stand up for your adopted state.
Alex Brown from Stateline, one of West Virginia Watch's sister newsrooms, reached out to the White House about states being denied FEMA funding, and received a statement that said the agency is focused on 'truly catastrophic disasters,' and that states need to have a better 'appetite to own the problem.'
West Virginia has no appetite, as shown during the legislative session.
On April 4, about three weeks after the devastating February floods, Del. Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, proposed adding $50 million to the state budget for flood prevention.
'We have the ability to do something earthly,' Hornbuckle said. 'The power that we have — not just the divine power — but with a button and a pen that we all have to help out neighbors in the great state of West Virginia.'
The amendment was rejected 75-19.
Remember the 2016 floods — the deadliest in the state's history? Former Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat born in Logan County, declared a state of emergency for 44 of the state's 55 counties.
Since November 2019, FEMA has given West Virginia more than $424 million in funding in response to the 2016 floods. More than $42 million was given to 4,949 individuals and families, and more than $172.8 million was given to local and state governments and some nonprofits. FEMA also provided more than $209.8 million to replace Herbert Hoover High, Richwood Middle, Richwood High, Summersville Middle and to relocate Clendenin Elementary.
Herbert Hoover High School was destroyed, and students were taught in portable classrooms until their new school was completed in fall 2023. Clendenin Elementary School didn't reopen until fall 2024. Construction hasn't started on the schools destroyed in Nicholas County.
In response to that flood, the West Virginia Legislature created the State Resiliency Office. Its purpose is to 'Minimize the loss of life and property, maintain economic stability, and improve recovery time by coordinating with stakeholders to implement disaster resilient strategies.
The state Legislature created the West Virginia Disaster Recovery Trust Fund in 2023 with Senate Bill 677. The fund sits empty. No money was allocated to that fund during the 2024 legislative session. The FY 2026 budget, which Morrisey has signed, doesn't include any money for the fund either.
There were only three bills related to flooding during the session — House Bill 2858 and Senate Bill 502 were the same bill, meant to allow counties to regulate floodplains under National Flood Insurance Program guidelines. They both died. House Bill 3502, sponsored by Hornbuckle, would have allowed a one-time allocation of $100 million from the state revenue shortfall fund and $150 million from the state's income tax revenue fund for the West Virginia Flood Resiliency Trust Fund. It died in the House Government Organization.
West Virginia needs FEMA, but with FEMA potentially out of the picture, it's time the state whet its appetite and take a bite out of the problem.
Morrisey has already said he plans to call a special session this summer to deal with the Public Employees Insurance Agency and education funding. Sounds like the perfect time and a good use of tax payer money to move some funding over to the West Virginia Disaster Recovery Trust Fund.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
4 hours ago
- Axios
Drama upends push to ban Congress from trading stocks
A schism is emerging between members of Congress who want to ban their colleagues from trading stocks over how best to accomplish their shared goal. Why it matters: Congressional stock trading has been the white whale of the last several Congresses, with lawmakers repeatedly trying and failing to pass a ban amid growing populist anger around the issue. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) have expressed support for a ban, as has Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. But there are still roadblocks: Bipartisan momentum on a Senate stock trading bill ground to a halt after President Trump engaged in a public dustup with the bill's sponsor, Josh Hawley (R-Mo.). Driving the news: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) announced last month that she plans to introduce a discharge petition on a bill to ban lawmakers, their spouses and dependent children from trading or owning stocks. A discharge petition can bypass House leadership and force a floor vote on any piece of legislation if 218 members — a majority of the chamber — sign on. Luna's announcement came as a shock to House members involved in months-long bipartisan talks on crafting a compromise stock trading bill. "She sort of parachuted in out of nowhere ... none of us knew she was going to do it," said one lawmaker involved in that effort, who said the group is now working to get Luna on side. State of play: The bipartisan group includes Reps. Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), Chip Roy (R-Texas), Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Axios is told. The lawmakers have been trying to reconcile a number of competing stock trading ban bills and figure out how to handle penalties for violations and divestment procedures. The bill Luna wants to force to a vote, introduced by Burchett, has "a few problems," said the lawmaker who spoke anonymously — such as not addressing capital gains taxes for members who are forced to sell off their stocks or exemptions for spouses who get paid in equity. They added that the bipartisan group sees a discharge petition as a "backup plan" and has "been working hard to secure commitments from leadership that this will move forward through regular order." What they're saying: Morelle, who is also the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, told Axios that a stock trading ban is "critically important" and that "in order to make it workable … it has to be done well." "It has to be done with forethought, and it has to be done in a way that's responsible to all the parties involved," he added, saying he hopes Luna's discharge petition "isn't just a way to grab headlines." "We are very close to having a consensus bill that I think will be the strongest one and I think the most viable one that I think has been introduced so far," Magaziner told Axios in an interview. The other side: "I would love to comment because we were never invited to these talks," Luna told Axios. Luna claimed the bipartisan group doesn't actually want to bring forward a bill because they don't "want to hurt their friends. " "And last time I checked it it's called 'representation,' not 'committee assignment jurisdiction,' on who gets to bring what to the floor." The intrigue: Burchett, in a phone interview, suggested he is losing faith in the bipartisan discussions, telling Axios they are "just getting kind of complicated" and "won't go anywhere." "Luna's going to force it, and I think we need to do that, because I'm sick of messing around," he added, predicting "some" Democrats will sign on. But a senior House Democrat, asked about Luna's announcement, told Axios "it is causing problems and being sorted," while a Democratic leadership aide scoffed at the notion of negotiating with her. What to watch: "I think we'll have something to release soon," Magaziner said of the bipartisan group.
The Hill
5 hours ago
- The Hill
GOP relishes forcing Dem votes on extending Trump DC police power
Republicans are licking their chops at the prospect that Senate Democrats will vote to block an extension of President Trump's federalization of the Washington, D.C., police force, relishing a chance to tag their opponents as soft on crime. Democrats have been angry over Trump's move, which aligns with what they see as authoritarian impulses from the president. Democrats also widely back the Home Rule Act, which allows D.C.'s local government a form of self-rule. But voting against an extension will definitely lead to attacks by Trump and other Republicans that Democrats are looking away from the problem of crime in cities — which are generally led by Democratic mayors. 'I am slack-jawed at how Democrats are sprinting into another trap set by Trump. This is so clear and yet they can't help themselves,' said Matt Gorman, a GOP strategist. 'Democrats love to quote studies and charts and academics to tell people they're not feeling what they're feeling and Republicans are contrasting that with action, and action is going to win every time.' Democrats don't appear to be all that worried about walking into a trap by voting against extending Trump's power over the D.C. police. 'No f‑‑‑ing way,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in an interview Wednesday when asked about an extension. 'We'll fight him tooth and nail. … He needs to get Congress to approve it, and not only are we not going to approve it, but there are some Republicans who don't like it either,' Schumer said. Republicans would need at least seven Democrats in the Senate to go along with the vote for the power to be extended. Whether the measure to extend passes or fails, plenty of Republicans are eager for the vote, believing it will backfire on Democrats. But Democrats say there are a number of reasons the vote won't be that hard for their side. 'I don't think it's that hard of an issue — as long as you start by saying, 'Crime is bad and we need to do more to stop crime,'' said Andrew Mamo, a Democratic operative. 'The smart Democrats out there are establishing credibility by starting there and then getting into [how] this is the wrong way to do it,' Mamo said. 'We shouldn't have the National Guard randomly stopping people in the streets. We should be funding our police departments and doing all the investments we know we need to do to keep communities safe.' 'The trap is when you don't start by saying crime is bad, and you try to say, 'Actually, there's no problems here. Actually, people aren't worried,' and you do the same kind of explain-y stuff we failed out on the economy last cycle,' Mamo continued. 'Then you can tie yourself into knots. But it shouldn't be that hard for any Democrat to just say, 'Crime is bad and we need to do more to stop crime.'' Others say most voters just aren't that focused on votes pertaining to local issues in Washington, D.C. 'Most Americans across the country do not feel any connection to the nation's capital — most will never visit, and many don't remember that beyond being the seat of government, more than a half-million citizens call the District home,' said John LaBombard, a Democratic operative at Rokk Solutions and an ex-aide to former Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.). 'That dynamic prevents many everyday Americans from getting worked up about a federal takeover of policing in D.C. — but will probably also help shield lawmakers from criticism who vote against extended federal control.' Polling suggests a large swath of D.C. residents — an overwhelmingly Democratic area — believe crime is an extremely or very serious problem. According to a Washington Post-Schar School poll taken in May, 50 percent of respondents viewed crime as an extremely or very serious problem, down from 65 percent who did so two years ago when homicides and violent crimes were at their recent apex. 'Anyone who thinks crime isn't a problem in D.C. is burying their head in the sand and suffers from serious Trump derangement syndrome,' said Jesse Hunt, a GOP operative who previously served as communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. 'The major problem that Democrats have is that … the crime, the carjackings, the muggings, the threats of violence, the assaults — while maybe not murder — is still spilling into professional areas. Lets be real, no one wants to pay an arm and a leg to go to Nats Park to watch a game when they're concerned or not themselves and their children are going to be the victims of stray bullets at some metro stop nearby.' Schumer has argued that Trump's push to take over policing in Washington, D.C., is intended to distract from calls to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died awaiting federal trial on sex trafficking charges. 'This is, again, just a distraction. He's afraid of Epstein,' Schumer continued. 'He's afraid of all that, and we are not going to give up on Epstein.' The issue of crime in D.C. has been a problem for Democrats in the past. Former President Biden two years ago blocked a crime bill the D.C. City Council was attempting to codify, citing concerns that it would scrap some mandatory minimum sentences, among other things. It led to criticisms that Biden was stepping on D.C. home rule. Trump on Wednesday said that he is seeking a 'long-term extension' of the federalization of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). He also argued that he can extend that time span via a national emergency declaration. 'But we expect to be before Congress very quickly. And again, we think the Democrats will not do anything to stop crime, but we think the Republicans will do it almost unanimously,' Trump told reporters at the Kennedy Center. 'So we're going to need a crime bill. That we're going to be putting in, and it's going to pertain initially to D.C. We're going to use it as a very positive example' 'You can't have 30 days,' he said. 'We're going to do this very quickly, but we're going to want extensions. I don't want to call a national emergency, but if I have to, I will.'
New York Post
10 hours ago
- New York Post
$25 million taxpayer cash handed by DHS, FEMA to groups with extremist ties: report
Taxpayer funds totalling $25 million were handed to US groups with alleged links to terror organizations or extremist ideology, a bombshell new study has found. In a twist of irony, the funds were originally allocated to help deradicalize would-be terrorists, but may have ended up in the pockets of groups that support Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime, according to the report. The Department of Homeland Security gave out the cash through its disaster relief programs, including the embattled Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), between 2013 and 2024, according to the report released by the Middle East Forum, a think tank based in Philadelphia. 5 The Department of Homeland Security granted more than $25 million to extremist groups in the US, including nonprofits that support Hamas, a new study says. AP 5 Hostage Noa Argamani being abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7th, 2023. She is one of the fortunate hostages who has been released. AP 'We've seen the left allocate billions of dollars towards the latest woke pet projects, but the Middle East Forum's study of DHS spending uncovered something far more sinister,' said Ben Baird, a project director at the Middle East Forum and co-author of the study. 'Instead of protecting the homeland, the federal government is bankrolling extremists who idolize 9/11 hijackers and sympathize with the perpetrators of the October 7 massacre in Israel. 'Taxpayer dollars meant to strengthen American security were used to undermine public safety.' The group says it is now working with DHS to 'rescind grants to extremist groups' and work on making the granting process more transparent. Under President Biden, DHS established the Faith-Based Security Advisory Council (FBSAC) that works with the secretary of DHS to help with the security and emergency preparedness of religious institutions. 'The FBSAC provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary and other senior leadership on matters related to protecting houses of worship, preparedness and enhanced coordination with the faith community,' according to a description of the council on FEMA's website. 5 The Biden administration appointed CAIR founder Nihad Awad to a FEMA agency to consult on which religious groups should get funds for security and emergency preparedness. AFP/Getty Images Among the leaders appointed as consultants to the group was Mohamed Magid — director and imam of a controversial Virginia mosque complex that was raided in a federal counterterrorism investigation in 2002, although no charges were brought. Salaam al-Marayati, founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, who once blamed 9/11 on Israel, was also a consultant to the group. Al-Marayati later said that his comments were taken out of context but he did not apologize for them, according to the Los Angeles Times. Neither Magid nor Al-Marayati returned a request for comment this week. Some of the groups DHS allocated money to have ties to extremists. Ones named in the report include: The Council on American Islamic Relations, which has links to extremist groups, including Hamas, received nearly $250,000 in DHS security grants to its national office in Washington as well as chapters in Miami and Los Angeles, the report says. 5 The Islamic Circle of North America has alleged links to Jamaat-e-Islam, which has been associated with terrorist attacks in Bangladesh. ICNA has denied that it works with the group. FEMA Federal prosecutors named CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation trial, the largest terrorism funding case in US history. Ghassan Elashi, one of the leaders of HLF was also a founder of CAIR Texas. He was convicted and sentenced to 65 years for funneling $12 million to Hamas. And after the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, CAIR's founder Nihad Awad said he was 'happy to see' the terrorist strikes on the country. He later said his comments were taken out of context and that he condemned the violence on October 7. CAIR's spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said 'the American Muslim community has the same right to apply for nonprofit grants as other faith communities.' He added CAIR 'condemns all forms of unjust violence, including hate crimes, terrorism, ethnic cleansing and genocide as well as all forms of bigotry, including ani-Black racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism and anti-Palestinian racism.' Elsewhere, DHS earmarked $10.3 million in disaster relief to the Islamic Circle of North America following Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The group was accused by the Middle East Forum and other think tanks that study extremism of acting as the US-based proxy for Jamaat-e-Islam, which has been linked to violence and terrorism in South Asia. ICNA has denied being a proxy for the group. The Islamic Society of Baltimore, a mosque and community center where the FBI conducted surveillance after it caught one of its members plotting to bomb an Army recruiting center in Maryland in 2010, was awarded $375,000 in DHS grants between 2017 and 2023, the report says. The group was under surveillance by the FBI for several years beginning in 2010 and was dubbed 'a breeding ground for terrorists.' The group did not return a request for comment. Mosques in Michigan and Texas that preach Iran's extreme brand of Shi'a Islam received $750,000. 5 A founder of CAIR Texas was sentenced to 65 years in federal prison for providing Hamas with more than $12 million. The terrorist group organized the October 7, 2023 attack against Israel that left 1,200 dead. The Islamic House of Wisdom, a mosque in Dearborn, received $330,000 in 2023, according to the report. The group is led by Imam Mohammed Ali Elahi, who has close ties to the Iranian regime and mourned the 2010 death of Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Hezbollah's spiritual guide and a proponent of suicide bombing. Elahi did not return repeated requests for comment. Other groups with alleged ties to radicalism received the rest of the $25 million in grants, per Middle East Forum. 'DHS officials must be more discerning,' said the report. 'Under FEMA's latest… guidelines, grantees may use security grants to install bulletproof glass and security fencing, or even to hire armed security guards [at their US-based offices]. 'Should an insular, fundamentalist commune that expresses loyalty to Al Shabaab or Al-Qaeda receive funding for these purposes?' Since taking office, the Trump administration has fired hundreds of DHS employees in order to streamline the bureaucracy of the federal government. 'We won't rest until Congress ensures that future administrations cannot fund extremists in the name of fighting extremism,' Baird told The Post.
