Shutdown Stalls West Virginia Recovery From 2016 Floods
A program that helps people rebuild homes that were damaged or destroyed in West Virginia’s 2016 flood is being affected by the partial federal government shutdown.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports a statement from the West Virginia National Guard, which oversees the RISE program, says it cannot draw down new funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The statement says the funding is needed to begin 170 new housing reconstructions and 83 new mobile home replacement projects.
Officials say that doesn’t mean work has stopped. It continues on 46 reconstruction and mobile home replacements because that contractor received initial payment for the project. Rehabilitation work also continues.
The statement says management teams are taking steps to get projects in order to move forward aggressively when the shutdown ends.