Virginia Receives Federal Assistance to Help Recovery Efforts from Disaster Damages Due to Severe Flooding in Southwest Virginia

By: Office of Governor Glenn Youngkin

RICHMOND, VA — Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that FEMA has approved a Major Disaster Declaration for Buchanan and Tazewell Counties, after extreme rainfall events from July 13 – July 14, 2022 resulted in devastating flash floods and landslides. The declaration provides federal support through Public Assistance and Hazard Mitigation grant programs to assist in recovery efforts and protect against future disasters.

“I would like to thank FEMA for approving Virginia’s request for federal assistance,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “While we await the decision on our request for Individual Assistance to support the residents that were impacted, we are grateful to have this assistance to help us restore infrastructure and services in the impacted areas. As Governor, I will continue to do everything we can to support these communities.”

The Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM) will hold Applicant Briefings in the coming weeks to help inform potential grant applicants of the process for applying for and receiving federal grants. Applicants will have 30 days to register and submit a Request for Public Assistance (RPA) in the FEMA Grants Portal.

Public Assistance (approved)

With this approval, local, state, and private non-profit organizations with infrastructure damage or emergency and debris removal expenditures, may apply to FEMA for reimbursement of 75 percent of eligible costs. The FEMA Public Assistance program could take years to be fully reimbursed for disaster related expenditures. The Virginia Department of Emergency Management is the administrative agency for this grant program.

https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20210318/what-fema-public-assistance

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (approved)

With this approval, Virginia will receive funding for projects to reduce future flooding. This program could take 5-7 years to implement. The application phase of this program is 12 months, and then FEMA may take 6-18 months to award the project based on environmental and historic review compliance or technical feasibility review. Federal assistance is approved at 75 percent of the total eligible project costs. Local governments and state agencies will apply through the Virginia Department of Emergency Management as the administrating agency. https://www.fema.gov/es/grants/mitigation/hazard-mitigation

A decision on the potential award of Individual Assistance is still pending. For more information, please visit VDEM’s grants page.