WV Gov. on Flood Preparedness

June 22, 2009 -- CHARLESTON, W.Va. – After extensive flooding in southern West Virginia in 2001, 2002 and 2004 left many West Virginians without safe and adequate housing, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) brought in temporary housing units until homes could be repaired or rebuilt.

Each time the portable housing units were brought in, FEMA also had to find suitable locations on which to place them. Finding or building a temporary housing location that is out of harm’s way and that has public utilities and access can take two to three months. That can seem like a long wait for a family that is without their home, said Larry Puccio, chief of staff for Gov. Joe Manchin and the governor’s designee on the West Virginia Housing Development Fund’s board of directors.

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FEMA’S temporary housing is available for as long as 18 months, depending on eligibility. After the federal disaster recovery operation is complete, however, the housing units are relocated and the lots are often abandoned and the utilities removed. Considering the geography of many of the communities in southern West Virginia and their vulnerability to flooding, Puccio said it simply made sense to have sites readily available in case of a flood, rather than wait for one to occur and then attempt to find a location for temporary housing.

“Gov. Manchin asked the Housing Development Fund to look at purchasing land that could be used in future emergencies, so that we could help get lives back in order more quickly and save money at the same time,” Puccio said. “Why continue the expense of developing these sites each time there is a flood, rather than incurring the cost just once? It’s a responsible decision made a few years ago that will greatly help us today.”

Today, the West Virginia Housing Development Fund (WVHDF) has one mobile home park, Parks Manor in Mingo County, that has 41 mobile home pads and was originally used in 2004. Due to the recent flooding event, WVHDF made this site available to FEMA for use as a temporary mobile home park. FEMA has tasked the Huntington District of the United States Army Corp of Engineers to bring this site back up to functional and livable standards. The RA West site, which WVHDF leased and FEMA developed in 2004, will be used to house 16 families. In addition, WVHDF has made available to FEMA, if the need is identified, two additional sites - one in McDowell which can accommodate 30 mobile homes and a second in Wyoming County with 32 available mobile home pads. These sites were developed by FEMA and the state after flooding events in 2001 and 2002. In addition to these sites, Wyoming County has offered county-owned land for FEMA to develop a community site with room for an estimated 35 mobile homes. Officials from FEMA, and State and local governments expect to break ground as early as this week. Mingo County has allowed FEMA to use Willis Court, a site that was built in 2004, which can house seven additional families.

These sites are equipped with access to water, electricity and sewer systems, and are ready to host temporary housing units as soon as they become available. “Essentially the time involved in placing these families in temporary homes after a disaster has been cut to several weeks instead of months," said Joe Hatfield, executive director of the Housing Development Fund.

“In addition, instead of having to return these properties to their previous owners because of expired leases, the Housing Development Fund will continue to maintain them.”

Source: West Virginia Governor