KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS) — As frost begins to settle on the August flood debris in Kanawha County, Akasha Sparks, who lost her home in Winifrede, is reminded how quickly time has passed and far she still has to go.
“It’s heartbreaking," she said looking at her old home that is tilted on its side. "It’s heartbreaking. This house has been here for a while. It’s been in my family. I brought two of my three kids home to it. It hurts.”
She found a new home just up the street. This time, her house is on a hill, but she has to drive by her old one every day that was washed away in late August. She said she was hoping assistance would come sooner than this to help clear her land.
Just in Kanawha alone, nearly 100 homes requested assistance, and just about 9 of those had flood insurance, according to data recently presented from county officials. West Virginia’s congressional delegation sent in a letter to urge a federal declaration for personal assistance.
Though West Virginia has not had one of a personal assistance declaration issued since 2016, state and federal officials feel confidence West Virginia meets the threshold.
Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito was one of the four to sign the letter.
“The governor has a role to play here, and he has done everything he can do on the state level to be able to make the parameters of what would designate as a disaster, so we’re just going back reinforcing trying to apply pressure. Hopefully we’ll be successful," she said.
As winter sets in, people like Sparks cannot hold out for hopefully.
“I’m not holding my breath any longer. We’re just going to have to suck it up and do it ourselves," she said.
The state is also working to submit damage to property for a public disaster declaration. This would include damage to roads, bridges and utilities. According to state officials, this process is still ongoing and has not been submitted.