TAZEWELL 鈥 Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earl Sears led a state delegation that met with Southwest Virginia leaders Thursday to make sure victims of February flooding are receiving needed assistance.
鈥淲e want to get the word out that we鈥檝e had a really great breakthrough to funding access at the federal and state levels with the federal disaster declaration and the legislature鈥檚 approval of my budget requests,鈥 Youngkin said.
President Donald J. Trump last week finally approved Youngkin鈥檚 federal disaster declaration request and the state is making funds available to help.
鈥淚 learned from a 5-year-old in 2022 that you can see the flood on tv, but there is nothing like when you show up. That is why we keep coming back, to show people we care,鈥 Sears said.
Youngkin, Sears, Chief Transformation Officer Rob Ward and Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Director Bryan Horn met with leaders from Tazewell, Russell, and Buchanan Counties Thursday to discuss how to gain access to the funds as well as ways to help prevent future damage.
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Youngkin said the office of Recovery and Rebuilding in the Governor鈥檚 office is actively engaged with local leaders to make sure the funding streams are accessible to counties and towns as well as individuals.
The federal disaster declaration applies only to localities and does not aid individuals.
鈥淭he first thing we need to do is make sure things that are broken get fixed,鈥 Youngkin said.
He said there are still people needing home replacement and repair, bridges and roads were damaged and there are other problems to deal with. Youngkin said the fact Virginia is considered a wealthy state makes it difficult to get federal disaster assistance for individuals.
The governor said he plans to sign the final budget May 2 and state agencies will start processing the claims already filed and writing checks as soon as possible.
During the meeting Youngkin encouraged local leaders to take steps to mitigate future flooding and improve ways of dealing with it.
Tazewell County Sheriff Brian Hieatt said Verizon towers and his department鈥檚 towers went down during the storm and his office could not take 911 calls or communicate with officers.
Hieatt said they were eventually able to restore communication through Starlink Satellite. The governor encouraged all localities to obtain access to Starlink or other satellite communication.
Youngkin also encouraged them to establish a site with access to communication, water and sewer, generators, and enough space to hold a town meeting.
Generators and chainsaws were also a hot topic, and the governor assured leaders there are funds available to purchase them.
Tazewell County Supervisor Chuck Presley said storm cleanup took a lot of time and VDOT did not have enough contractors. He said volunteer fire departments took on the role of clearing roads and trees.
Presley and County Administrator Eric Young asked if there was a way the departments could be reimbursed in a timely manner.
Russell County Board Chair David Eaton said they had formed a relationship with local churches and other groups to address needs.
鈥淥ur sheriff gave up his AR15鈥檚 to get chainsaws,鈥 Eaton said.
Ward and Horn said proper record keeping is key to the reimbursement process. They encouraged having departments log how many people responded to a call, how long they worked and what equipment was used.
The governor expressed his admiration for how local leaders in various towns and counties work together.
鈥淵ou all are good at collaborating, because you realize you have to be,鈥 he said.
All the leaders thanked Youngkin for mobilizing the National Guard, swift water rescue teams and other agencies in advance of the storms. Ron Holt, police chief and acting town manager in Richlands, reiterated his earlier statements that lives would have been lost without the swift water rescue teams.
