With $53M in property damage in 9 years, WV still has an empty flood trust fund

Flooding that hit the Mountain State on June 23, 2016, left 23 people dead and displaced more than 2,000 people. It caused more than $162 million in property damage, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey confirmed Wednesday a ninth death reported in Ohio County following June 14 flash flooding. Rapid rainfall ravaged Marion County on June 15, prompting State of Emergency declarations from Morrisey for both counties.

Morrisey announced Wednesday night that flash flooding in Wetzel County resulted in two adults and a child being rescued from their home, with no injuries reported.

Flash flooding has been an especially destructive phenomenon in West Virginia since the June 2016 flood. Rising temperatures due to climate change increasing extreme rainfall in the state’s plethora of valleys prone to water collection and slopes susceptible to runoff have driven that destruction.

West Virginia had 687 flash flood events from just after the June 2016 flood through March 2025 that inflicted over $53.7 million in property damage, according to a Gazette-Mail analysis of NOAA data.

That’s more than the $50 million that the West Virginia House of Delegates rejected directing to the state’s two-year-old Flood Resiliency Trust Fund from its $12 billion-plus Rainy Day Fund in April. The House voted down a move to do so from Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, via a proposed amendment to the state fiscal year 2026 budget bill.

House Finance Committee Vice Chair Clay Riley, R-Harrison, opposed Hornbuckle’s proposal in a House floor address, asserting investment markets would view the move as a sign of instability.

The Legislature has yet to direct any money to the Flood Resiliency Trust Fund created in 2023 via that year’s Senate Bill 677 to prioritize nature-based flood protection and prevention solutions for low-income areas. SB 677 listed a $40 million potential — but not required — allocation for the trust fund. 

Meanwhile, West Virginia has incurred far steeper costs from flash flooding than neighboring states, heightening the stakes for strengthening the state’s flood resiliency.

Far more W.Va. flash floods per capita than neighbors

West Virginia had far more flash flood events per capita than any bordering state from just after the June 2016 flood through March 2025, according to NOAA data — 34% more than next-highest Kentucky and over quintuple Ohio’s total. West Virginia had the second-highest amount of property damage per capita among its neighbors, lower than only Pennsylvania.

West Virginia suffered 380 flash flood events from 2019 through 2023, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data — an average of one in every 4.8 days.

Those flash flood events marked a 26% increase over the 301 the NOAA recorded in the previous five-year span, a 51% climb over the 252 recorded from the five-year span before that and a 169% rise from the 141 recorded from 2004 through 2008.

Of Kanawha County’s 81 flash floods from the start of 2004 through March 2025, 64, or 79%, have come since the June 2016 flood, demonstrating the increasing frequency of the events.

West Virginia’s narrow valleys and steep slopes have been made more flood-prone by removal of land cover like vegetation that controls runoff to accommodate generations of coal mining and other extractive industries.

More than half of West Virginia’s critical infrastructure — including fire, police and power stations — is at risk of becoming inoperable due to flooding, according to a 2021 study by the First Street Foundation, a nonprofit that studies climate risks. That’s more than any other state.

W.Va. leaders on persistent trust fund emptiness 

In a Parkersburg news conference Wednesday, Morrisey indicated openness to addressing the Flood Resiliency Trust Fund but gave no potential time frame for doing so.

“Everything’s always on the table,� Morrisey said.

On behalf of House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, in response to a Gazette-Mail request for comment submitted to him Thursday, House Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director Ann Ali referred to past comments.

When asked about the lack of Flood Resiliency Trust Fund support in April, Hanshaw pointed to the Governor’s Office Civil Contingent Fund, per a statement from Ali.

A $5 million line item was included in the Legislature-approved fiscal year 2026 budget for the governor-controlled Civil Contingent Fund, which state code says may cover expenses for any law for which there’s no special appropriation any anything else the governor deems necessary.

Ali noted the General Revenue Budget includes funding for Upper Mud River flood control ($179,084) and a state early warning flood system ($1,487,801), as well as $626,650 for the State Resiliency Office established in 2017 and responsible for protecting communities against extreme weather and other disasters.

That $626,650 sum is a 2% decrease from the prior year’s budget when adjusted for inflation.

State Resiliency Officer Bob Martin told the Joint Legislative Funding Committee during a December 2023 interim legislative session his office probably could execute projects if it had what it was looking for in federal or state support, noting there was no money in either the flood resiliency fund or the Disaster Recovery Trust Fund.

Senate President Randy Smith, R-Preston, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Reimbursement requests not yet in to Governor's Office 

Governor’s Office Deputy General Counsel Katie Franklin told the Gazette-Mail Wednesday that while it’s expected that state entities may seek reimbursement from the governor for some expenses related to this month’s flooding in Ohio and Marion counties, those requests for reimbursement typically aren’t submitted until 30 to 45 days after expenses are incurred.

In some instances, those requests may not be sent until months later, Franklin added.

A Governor’s Office update on recovery and cleanup efforts in Ohio and Marion counties Wednesday reported that:

• The West Virginia National Guard has removed nearly 8,000 tons of debris with 171 personnel deployed to affected areas.
• The Division of Highways has removed 4,500 tons of debris with 97 workers from three districts assisting with cleanup and road repair work.
• Division of Natural Resources police continue to support impacted areas, with officers in water vessels and vehicles.
• The Department of Environmental Protection has debris collection sites open and staffed.

Morrisey noted a need to collect damage assessments to provide data to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and encouraged residents to complete surveys at emd.wv.gov/disastersurvey.

The FEMA has not yet granted a request from Morrisey, supported by West Virginia’s congressional delegation, for a major disaster declaration in response to the flooding in Ohio and Marion counties that could unlock aid through the agency’s Individual Assistance and Public Assistance programs — the former for homeowners and renters and the latter for state and local governments and certain private nonprofits.

Trump administration's FEMA, NOAA cuts loom 

President Donald Trump said in a June 10 briefing his administration intends to start “phasing out� the FEMA after hurricane season ends.

Project 2025, a proposed presidential transition project overseen by past and present Trump administration officials before his reelection, proposed shifting the majority of FEMA emergency preparedness and response costs to states and localities.

The Project 2025 playbook, which the Trump administration has largely followed, calls for privatizing the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program and eliminating most Department of Homeland Security grant programs. The Project 2025 document cites what it called a “bloated DHS bureaucracy and budget.�

The Trump administration also has proposed gutting NOAA weather and climate research programs.