Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery
Overview
In June 2016, a severe and unprecedented 1,000-year flood ravaged parts of West Virginia. Between 8 and 10 inches fell within a period of 12 hours, causing debilitating flooding across 17 counties. A state of emergency in 44 of the 55 West Virginia counties was declared by the Governor. The flooding caused widespread damage to housing, business and infrastructure, left thousands of West Virginians homeless and caused the loss of 23 lives. Verified losses reported by FEMA totaled over $45 million statewide.
As a result of the horrific impact of the storm, the President declared twelve counties disasters, enabling the State of West Virginia to receive a Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery. This grant is administered by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant is to help cities, counties, and States recover from Presidentially declared disasters, especially in low-income areas, subject to availability of supplemental appropriations.
Disaster Case Management
The State of West Virginia asked WV VOAD to implement the Disaster Case Management surrounding the CDBG-DR Program, otherwise known as the RISE WV Program. Through a sub-recipient agreement, a partnership was created and WV VOAD immediately got to work by helping roughly 1,000 of our neighbors recover from the disaster.
WV VOAD implemented a Bridge Home Program prior to the 2016 disaster. As a result of this innovative program’s success, coupled with the high demand of need, families expressed for a new bridge after the 1,000-year flood, the State of West Virginia asked for WV VOAD to further recovery and mitigation efforts by building bridges utilizing CDBG-DR funding.
Housing Rehabilitation/Reconstruction Program
In direct response to the 2016 flooding disaster, WV VOAD and member organizations, through donated dollars, in-kind donations, and volunteer labor, helped West Virginia families recover from the flood. Recovery efforts included rehabilitation and reconstruction of roughly 2,300 homes. As a result of WV VOAD’s notable success in the recovery process, the State of West Virginia entered into a sub-recipient agreement with WV VOAD to rehabilitate and/or reconstruct houses as per the CDBG-DR guidelines.
Visit wvfloodrecovery.com for additional programmatic information.