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BUCKHANNON – The Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur Foundation has received 62 applications asking for assistance with flood-related damages.
Buckhannon City Recorder Randy Sanders attended Tuesday’s Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur meeting to report updates about recovery efforts after the July 20 and 21 flood.
“When you walk down Main Street in Buckhannon, things look like we’re all back to normal, but when you peel it back, and you see the perspective that I see, along with my county colleagues — there is still a lot of devastation out there,” Sanders said. “We had 26 properties reported this week that still needed debris picked up, and the National Guard has cut back those services because we can only keep those people on the ground for so long.”
Upshur County is still working with some National Guard resources in Lewis County to help with remaining debris.
“Some homes have to be completely demolished, and that’s a whole different category because then you have to get into asbestos testing and so forth,” Sanders said. “We’re working with each and every homeowner, and we have a tremendous amount of volunteer groups still in the area helping in that department.”
Sanders said the Buckhannon-Upshur area is looking at another two years of recovery.
“We’re going to pace ourselves, and we’re appointing some committees. We have several, and if anyone else wants to be involved, you can certainly reach out and offer to be on a committee that will work with obtaining some national support, like from Lowe’s or Home Depot or 84 Lumber, who might be able to provide us with some supplies either free or at very low cost,” he told Rotary members.
The Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur Foundation has raised a little over $160,000 to help the local community.
“We have 62 applicants right now, and we’re going to see who needs the most help at this point. We also want to make sure they are taking advantage of the FEMA dollars that are out there,” Sanders said. “Not everybody will want to go to FEMA, but we’re going to encourage them to go to FEMA first. An average of about $11,000 per FEMA applicant has been disbursed in Upshur County to this day.”
Each applicant will be in touch with a caseworker to determine their needs.
“We will also see if any of the volunteer groups in the area can help so we can really stretch these funds,” Sanders said. “Maybe we can get some supplies donated instead of just throwing money immediately at the problem.”
The Tygart Valley United Way has disbursed $87,000 so far in the community.
“That’s 87 families who received a $1,000 check, and they have room for 13 more. That’ll hit the $100,000 mark,” Sanders said. “They’ve designated another $50,000 from funds they raised for our [city and county] committee to use.”
The Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur Foundation is still taking new applications, which can be made online here.
