Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, D-West Virginia, requested a Federal Disaster Declaration from President Barack Obama on Tuesday. If approved, the declaration would pave the way to direct assistance for homeowners who sustained damage from the June 29 storm.
On Wednesday, FEMA field workers began their second assessment of damage in 13 counties across the state. After their work is complete, field workers will report back to the President, according to Frank Blake, a spokesperson for FEMA.
"If you have damage, give a call to your insurance agency right now. The very next thing you can do is call your county contact for emergency service. If they don't know where the damage is, they can't get their assessment teams out," said Blake.
The President, then, will decide whether the state qualifies for a Federal Disaster Declaration, assistance Senator Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, said Wednesday is desperately needed.
"If our infrastructure is back, people can recover much more quickly than if infrastructure is not working properly, such as in the case of our water systems. Who would have known in this age we would not even be able to make simple transactions in a disaster. Because a lot of people buy off of plastic and the signs all said cash only. There are a lot of things we can do to prepare ourselves for the electronic age," added Manchin.
Raleigh County lost more then $350,000 from the disaster left behind by the June 29 storm, said Marty Agee, Raleigh County's 911 Director. Without help from the federal government, she said it will be difficult for the county to recover before a second disaster strikes.
"When you take that much funding out of each agency budget, we don't know how that will affect a future event, and we certainly hope we get some of those costs back to show our responders that we do care," said Agee.
Agee is asking anyone affected by the June 29 storm to report damage to 304-255-0970.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WVNS. All Rights Reserved.
