After Deadly Floods, West Virginia Created a Resiliency Office. It’s Barely Functioning.

2024-12-26 02:17:34 source:lotradecoin investmenttools category:Finance

RAINELLE, West Virginia—The rain came hard and fast early on the morning of June 23, 2016. 

By 2 p.m., water was knee-deep in Bill Bell’s appliance store on Main Street in Rainelle, a small town on the western edge of Greenbrier County, West Virginia.

Bell began elevating the washing machines and dishwashers, thinking that would be enough. But within hours, he’d lose it all. Today, his shop is up and running once again, but the memory of the flood runs deep. 

“To be honest with you, everybody here sleeps on pins and needles when it calls for a big rain,” he says. 

West Virginia is one of the most flood-prone states in the country. With climate change, those flood risks could worsen with a future of more intense and variable weather. Yet it’s hard for state officials charged with protecting the public to even talk about climate change, the Ohio Valley ReSource and West Virginia Public Broadcasting found as part of a regional collaboration with InsideClimate News called “Caught Off Guard: Southeast Struggles with Climate Change.”

READ MORE

This story was published as part of a collaborative project organized by InsideClimate News involving nine newsrooms across seven states. The project was led by Louisville, KY-based James Bruggers of InsideClimate News, who leads the Southeast regional hub of ICN’s Environment Reporting Network.

More:Finance

Recommend

'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges

"Vanderpump Rules" star James Kennedy has been arrested for domestic violence.In a statement to USA

Some Maui wildfire survivors hid in the ocean. Others ran from flames. Here's what it was like to escape.

People in Lahaina, a Maui town almost entirely destroyed by fast-moving wildfires, have shared horri

Authorities charge 10 current and former California police officers in corruption case

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal authorities have charged 10 current and former Northern California poli