In February, heavy rain that battered southern West Virginia caused rivers and creeks to swell and flood communities across the coalfields. Roads and bridges washed away. Homes were soaked. Residents were left without power and water. Three people died after their truck washed into the Tug Fork River near Welch.
Soon after, Gov. Patrick Morrisey made a promise.
“We’re going to utilize every asset at our disposal to help the people in need,” he said during a press conference on Feb. 17. “And we’re going to be there every step of the way until our communities are recovered.”
Two months later, residents of the hardest hit areas say they are far from recovered, but feel like they’re now walking alone.
In McDowell County, Linda Woods is still hauling out the things — clothes, bed sheets and rugs — that are still damp with flood water.
“I’m angry, and I’m hurt and disappointed. I don’t understand why I’m getting no help,” Woods said.
In many flood-damaged communities — Matoaka, Berwind, Bartley and English — the scenes are the same.
Clothes, toys, uprooted trees and broken branches still litter stream banks. Black trash bags sit in piles with discarded couches, and broken doors, waiting to be hauled away. Mud and water continue to line the floors in homes, where residents wait for help to clean it out
In early April, Alicia Vest had just started to clean the mud off her restaurant floors. She had spent weeks working around the clock to help folks affected by the floods in Matoaka and the surrounding areas in Mercer County.
“I pretty much put it on the back burner until I could get my people taken care of,” said Vest, who runs a community organization that provides food, clothes and other basic necessities to those in need.
The night of the flood, Morrisey activated the West Virginia National Guard. They worked alongside state and local agencies in the affected counties.
Guard troops helped clear out blocked roadways and deliver bottled water, ready to eat meals and cleaning supplies.
But by the end of March, they were gone. And now, some residents are just beginning to clean up, with a fraction of the help.
Many in communities are struggling with how to dispose of the debris. Before, they could take it to the curb and guard troops would take care of it. Now, much of it sits out along the roadsides and on the edge of yards as residents rely on either their neighbors or the few volunteers in the region to help haul it away.
In Berwind, in McDowell County, the water rose fast during the heavy rains, swelling the Tug Fork River and flooding the community.
Lloyd Bowling was out with the volunteer fire department checking the rivers when they got trapped at a nearby railroad underpass. But his chickens were out in his yard, so he waded through the chest high water to reach them. He got there too late.
“We about lost everything,” he said.
More than two months later, black trash bags, a loveseat and other personal items lost in the floods still sit in his yard. He’s put off cleaning and repairing his own home, opting to help other people in the community that have needed help.
But many, if not all, of the free dump sites available following the flood have closed, leaving Bowling and others to figure out alternatives. Many people don’t have vehicles capable of hauling that much trash, and for the ones that do, the county dump is too costly.
Since the dump closed, Woods has been setting out items to be picked up by the trash service little by little.
Still, boxes of clothes and home-canned foods and her bedroom flooring are piled on her back porch.
Soon after the floods, the governor requested a federal major disaster declaration for 13 counties. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded more than $25 million in federal disaster relief to more than 4,000 households affected by the floods.
But many West Virginians are struggling to qualify for federal assistance. And for some who have gotten aid, it’s not nearly enough to cover the damage and loss they’ve incurred.
The floods left Woods without a working fridge and stove. Instead, she’s been relying on an air fryer, microwave and toaster since the disaster hit. Woods hoped to get help replacing the items she lost. But Woods said she was denied partly because her home isn’t in her name.
“My heart hurts so bad that I don’t know how to explain it,” Woods said. “It just hurts.”
In a response to questions, a FEMA spokesperson shared the eligibility requirements and said that West Virginia does experience challenges verifying proof of homeownership higher than average because homes are often in other family members’ names.
Meanwhile, the federal agency cut a check for Bowling and his wife for lost personal items. But only for $270, which is not nearly enough to recover what they lost in the thigh-high waters that ransacked their home.
Over in Bartley, the floods wrecked Ashley Jones and her family’s first floor, causing her and her husband to gut their kitchen, throw away all of their furniture and close off their laundry room. The flood also destroyed her heat pump, leaving the family of five to rely on propane and kerosene heaters months later.
While they were granted some federal assistance, they’re appealing the claim because their initial check won’t cover the tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage she and her husband now need to repair.
The ground beneath part of her home still peeks through several gaping holes in her laundry room floor.
“I don’t even know anything else other than I’m tired. But what can you do?” Jones said. “You really can’t stop. We’ve got to keep going.”
Bowling said the hardest part of cleaning up is getting started.
His back room, which was overtaken by the strong flood waters, still sits in disarray. A musky, damp smell hangs heavy as mold spots the busted ceiling. Damp pillows, towels and blankets lay on the floor that’s still wet.
“Everything you worked for, it’s just gone. Ain’t no words for that,” said Bowling.
For many of these communities, the main need is more manpower.
As of last week, homes have still not been cleaned out from the flood as many residents, especially seniors, aren’t physically capable of doing it themselves. Debris still litter waterways and their banks. And some roads and bridges are still in disrepair.
On Monday, Alex Lanfranconi, Morrisey’s communications director, did not respond to emailed questions asking if the state is still sending more resources or if the governor has any additional plans to aid with the recovery.
The next day, the governor’s office issued a statement confirming that FEMA had denied requests for individual assistance — help for residents and families — in half-a dozen other West Virginia counties. FEMA also denied assistance that would allow local governments in Cabell and Kanawha counties to recoup flood response expenses.
Morrisey used the statement to emphasize that he was “grateful to the Trump administration” for “strong support” of West Virginia following the floods.
President Donald Trump has said he would abolish FEMA, and leave states to go it alone after natural disasters.
With each passing day, frustration and anger brews across the coalfields as folks continue to reckon with the aftermath of the floods. The state’s mountainous terrain and thousands of rivers and creeks — along with decades of strip mining and timbering — make West Virginia especially vulnerable to flooding. This is likely to only get worse as climate change continues to increase the risk.
“There are a lot of pissed off people in McDowell County, angry people who feel like the state turned its back on them,” said the Rev. Brad Davis, who pastors five United Methodist churches in southern West Virginia and has been helping with the recovery efforts.
Immediately after the floods, folks in smaller communities struggled to get basic supplies. Most of the resources were sent to larger towns, then — weeks later — were distributed to the surrounding communities and hollers.
“They just kicked us to the curb,” Bowling said.
Many of the flood-stricken communities have relied on — and continue to — a collection of nonprofit organizations, religious groups and private individuals for assistance. But that aid is also drying up.
Local leaders have been growing more vocal, and taking their plea for help to Charleston. McDowell County Commissioner Michael Brooks, for example, appeared in mid-April on the statewide MetroNews Talkline show.
“We’re doing our best to help them, but unfortunately our best is not enough,” he said. “I just don’t feel like we’re meeting the needs of the people like we should, and we don’t have the means. We don’t have the finances and we need help.”