Today, “Mother Nature” has once again flexed her muscles and reminded us that she has a pretty vicious backhand.  Thankfully, no lives were lost and in counting our blessings that is the greatest blessing of all.

I do have some advice for our homeowners who are in the process of mucking out from the flood …

Two great sites to help you with this process are: 

http://www.ready.gov/floods

http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/flood

Both of these sites have specific information regarding what to do before, during and after a flood event (plus much, much more preparedness and disaster related information).  An excellent guide to help you with your recovery is from the American Red Cross  titled "Repairing Your Flooded Home".  It can be found at:  http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m4540081_repairingFloodedHome.pdf

The Red Cross has Disaster Assistance Teams [DAT] in the area conducting damage assessments, identifying needs [clean-up kits, etc.] and canvassing to identify any victims that were not identified during the VIPS Rapid Assessment Survey. If you have damages from the flood this morning, please contact your insurance carrier as well as my office so we can connect you with the DAT teams and log your report in our damage assessment history. You can do this by emailing me at srauch@bridgeportwv.com or calling 842-8200 x252 and leaving a message with your name, address, telephone number, email and a brief description of your damages. Please also include whether or not you have flood insurance in your message/e-mail. 

It is important that any resident that had damages due to this flooding, and any future events contact my office so that we may add your damages to our damage assessment totals as well as building a historical database to show repetitive damage/cost-to-benefit for any mitigation grants that might come available. 

I’d like to take a moment and explain a little about the process for receiving FEMA Individual Assistance to assist with the costs associated with recovering from a flood.  The damage assessment numbers required in order to receive a Presidential Declaration that will open up the availability to FEMA’s Individual Assistance [IA] Program is extremely difficult to obtain.  Basically, it averages 100 homes with a minimum of 1-foot of water on the first living floor, excluding all basement flooding, garage flooding or flooding of non-permanent residences.  Destroyed and major damages are the numbers we need in order for the request process for the IA funding mechanism to be triggered.  We are continuing to complete rapid and damage assessments to submit just in case our sister jurisdictions that were affected might have more significant damage, but right now I do not have the numbers to make a request to our State Emergency Operations Center requesting that the Governor declare a State of Emergency and petition the President for federal assistance. 

That pretty much leaves out-of-pocket expenses and insurance coverage.  Here’s what you should know about that [from Ready.gov]:    

Unless you have a policy that covers floods or “Acts of God”, which is underwritten by the National Flood Insurance Program, it is unlikely that your homeowners insurance will cover your damages.  But I strongly recommend that you contact your agent immediately.  It is always best to check and it is important that your agent is aware of your needs so he/she can adjust your policy or help you get the coverage you need.

As always, I am available to answer your questions and provide whatever assistance I can.   The recovery process is always the longest, most expensive and most difficult phase of any disaster event.  Please know that you are not alone ... West Virginia has a long history of being victorious over some pretty severe displays of violent flooding events.  Stay connected, ask questions and get prepared because the next disaster could happen at any time.  

Shaunda Rauch, Director
Bridgeport Department of Emergency Services

srauch@bridgeportwv.com

(304) 842-8200 x252 

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BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 538 PM EDT WED AUG 28 2013 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... BARBOUR COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA... THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...PHILIPPI...AUDRA STATE PARK... HARRISON COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA... THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF CLARKSBURG... TAYLOR COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA... THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF GRAFTON... NORTHEASTERN UPSHUR COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA... * UNTIL 845 PM EDT * AT 536 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY RAIN FROM A THUNDERSTORM OVER THE WARNED AREA. * LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO ENTERPRISE PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS...COUNTRY ROADS...AS WELL AS FARMLAND ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS. MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. FLOOD WATERS ARE USUALLY DEEPER THAN THEY APPEAR. JUST ONE FOOT OF FLOWING WATER IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO SWEEP VEHICLES OFF THE ROAD. WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED ROADS MAKE THE SMART CHOICE...TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN. EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE STREAM BANKS TO BECOME UNSTABLE. UNSTABLE STREAM BANKS CAN FAIL OR BECOME SLIPPERY. PERSONS SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM STREAM BANKS...SWIFT FLOWING WATER AND CULVERTS. STAY AWAY OR BE SWEPT AWAY! PLEASE REPORT HIGH WATER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BY CALLING TOLL FREE...800-401-9535...WHEN YOU CAN DO SO SAFELY. YOU MAY ALSO REPORT HIGH WATER BY POSTING YOUR REPORT TO THE CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FACEBOOK PAGE...OR BY USING THE TWITTER HASHTAG...NWSRLX.

Posted by Shaunda Rauch
Aug. 28, 2013 at 5:46 PM EST