CHARLESTON, WV – Gov. Jim Justice announced today that the State of West Virginia has been awarded $1,084,875 in grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to reduce major flood risk impacting Rainelle, due to the water flow in the creeks or the Meadow River in Greenbrier County.
This grant funding is in response to the June 2016 Presidential Major Disaster Declaration and is part of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). The purpose of HMGP is to enact mitigation measures reducing the risk of loss of life and property from future disasters.
“We’ve been working right alongside our FEMA partners for several years now and I’m so happy that we’re seeing this supportive funding coming into West Virginia,” Gov. Justice said. “But, as always, I’m not done fighting. I will keep working every day to secure every resource we can for all the victims of flooding in Rainelle and all across our great state.”
The grant award provides funding to Town of Rainelle for Phase 1 of a storm water project. Phase 1 will study how to convey water from the drainage basin to the river safely and should be based on the 2016 flood levels of the river and creeks.
FEMA obligates funding for this project directly to the State. The West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (WVDHSEM) works alongside FEMA at the State level on these recovery efforts. It is the State's responsibility to ensure that the eligible sub-recipient receive this award.
The HMGP is one of the many voluntary grant programs available following a disaster. HMGP is funded by FEMA and managed in West Virginia by DHSEM.
Andy Pendleton, who served as mayor of Rainelle during the flood and until 2019, praised Gov. Justice’s leadership in securing this funding.
“This is a fabulous day for the people of Rainelle. I sincerely appreciate Governor Justice’s commitment to our community and for not giving up on us,” Pendleton said. “Governor Justice worked side-by-side with us during my time in office to make sure we would get this important funding. We also worked with the folks with FEMA Region 4 – it took a whole team to pull this off. And now that this day is finally here, I’m overwhelmed.”