Over two months have passed since Hurricane Helene first impacted southwest Virginia. In that time, the commonwealth of Virginia and FEMA have made significant strides to support individuals, families and communities on their road to recovery.
“A lot of progress has been achieved over the last two months to support survivors. I am grateful for our partnership with Virginia and local communities to make sure we had the right resources in place to meet the immediate needs of those impacted by Helene,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Timothy Pheil. “Our work is far from over and we are still here in southwest Virginia, working in partnership with Virginia agencies to help communities with long-term recovery and ensure they can rebuild safer, strong and more resilient.”
Since early October, 10,520 Virginians have registered for FEMA assistance. FEMA has approved more than $12.9 million for individuals and households through the Individual Assistance Program. Disaster Survivor Assistance Teams walked door to door, visiting over 35,000 homes. The Commonwealth and FEMA opened 10 Disaster Recovery Centers throughout southwest Virginia, serving over 4,000 individuals who came to apply for assistance or receive additional help.
FEMA’s Enhanced Applicant Services staff are continuing to follow up with applicants who may have been denied some assistance due to missing or incomplete information. They have made over 2,200 calls to applicants and have helped Virginians receive an additional $2.2 million in assistance. FEMA encourages survivors to update their contact information with any changes to phone number or address and to answer letters and calls from FEMA.
“We are in the early stages of this long-term recovery process following the impacts of Hurricane Helene in Southwest Virginia,” said VDEM State Coordinator Shawn Talmadge. “The collaboration between VDEM, FEMA, other state agencies, non-profits, businesses, and the community will continue on the ground supporting those affected by Helene.”
Virginia, USDA, and FEMA also hosted Agriculture Recovery Resource Days, daylong events for agricultural producers in the hardest-hit communities. These events, the first of their kind in the Southeast, brought resources directly to impacted areas. 272 individuals attended and over 20 federal, state, and local organizations participated.
FEMA knows that recovering from a disaster is a community effort. Disasters have unexpected impacts on infrastructure as well as local industries and economies.
FEMA works directly with state, local, territorial and tribal communities as well as certain nonprofit organizations to rebuild infrastructure and reduce the likelihood of damage in the future. FEMA provides this help primarily through Hazard Mitigation Assistance, which funds activities and projects that reduce risk to people and property from future disasters and Public Assistance, which provide reimbursement grants to state and local governments. FEMA has received 118 applications for Public Assistance and a total of $20.4 million of federal assistance has already been obligated across three projects.
On Sunday, Dec.8, the President increased federal support for debris removal in Virginia. The federal government will now pay for 100% of total eligible debris removal cost for 120 days of the commonwealth’s choosing, within six months of Helene’s impact.
FEMA continues to coordinate with other federal and state agencies on debris removal in streams and creeks, notably in the Claytor Lake and South Holston Lake areas. This debris removal helps restore wildlife habitats, recreation spaces, and sites of economic growth for southwest Virginia.
FEMA’s Interagency Recovery Coordination staff brings federal agencies, state agencies, academia, and nonprofits together to find creative solutions for recovery needs that persist after a disaster. FEMA is working with Virginia’s Chief Transformation Officer, Robert Ward, who is leading the Office of Hurricane Helene Recovery and Rebuilding, and local communities to promote small business recovery, increase local communities’ capabilities through grant writing and training, coordinate resources and technical support for industries and localities that need additional help with recovery, and enhance the resilience of VA communities.
The original announcement can be found here.