Gov. Patrick Morrisey (right) updates the press on flooding in Southern West Virginia on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025 (@wvgovernor X account)
West Virginia is waiting on approval from the federal government for a disaster declaration that Gov. Patrick Morrisey said will allow the state to access aid he believes will be “required” to ensure adequate recovery for the regions hit hardest by last weekend’s flooding.
The natural disaster impacted nearly the entirety of the state’s southern coalfields, where economic disparities already persist and are, historically, some of the widest in West Virginia.
On Tuesday, Morrisey said it was “a safe thing to say” that the damage wrought from the weekend’s flooding was more than the state could handle on its own.
“We obviously asked for assistance because we thought that we needed help from the federal government,” Morrisey said. “So it would be beneficial if this declaration is approved, and that’s why I try not to ask for things unless I actually want them and the state needs them. So I’m very hopeful.”
Morrisey sent an official request to the federal government asking for a major disaster declaration for the region after he spent Monday afternoon surveying damage. A similar request has already been approved by the Trump Administration for Kentucky due to the same storms.
The state’s need for federal assistance, however, comes as President Donald Trump has called FEMA — the only agency that can currently administer disaster relief funds — a “disaster” and suggested it might “go away.”
The president said states would best take care of natural disasters on their own, with the federal government reimbursing some of the costs. A council has been convened to review FEMA and recommend “improvements or structural changes.”
When asked whether Morrisey was concerned about such pushes at the federal level — especially in light of West Virginia’s recent (and historic) needs — the governor said he was “not going to get into any of those issues right now.”
“I want to make sure that we have systems that work at the local level, that work at the state level, and then I want to partner effectively with the relevant folks on the federal side as well,” Morrisey said. “I’m going to focus on what’s the readiness, the preparedness, that we have right here in West Virginia.”
Current — and future — flood risk is highest in coalfield counties
The funds Morrisey is requesting access to — all administered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency — would allow those impacted by the floods, as well as whole communities, to receive money that could cover the costs of damage from the disaster, including costs associated with rebuilding. Some of that support would be technical, including funding the creation of mitigation plans to help prevent damage from future, similar events.
Despite mitigation plans, it’s certain that more flooding will take place in West Virginia in the future. Every time a major flood occurs floodplains in affected areas expand, putting more structures and residents at risk of the next heavy rain due to the erosion of soil and rocks around rivers and other waterways.
According to a 2023 report by researchers at West Virginia University, 94% of West Virginia communities are considered “Special Flood Hazard Areas,” meaning they are at high risk of flooding. More than 84,000 structures are in those areas.
The coalfield counties — McDowell, Mingo, Logan, Lincoln, Boone and Wyoming — hold the highest percentage of all counties with buildings located in high-risk floodplains. A majority of those buildings, per that report, are residential.
Statewide, only 1.2% of residential structures in West Virginia were insured for flood damage through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program in 2024, according to data from the federal agency. That data does not include residential structures covered through private insurance.
In 2018, FEMA estimated that 12% of all structures in the state that were located in those “Special Flood Hazard Areas” carried any form of flood insurance coverage. That was less than half the national average of 30%, per FEMA.
And, year-to-year, the rate of structures covered by flood insurance in West Virginia is decreasing. According to a separate data set from FEMA, there was a 7.3% drop in the number of NFIP policies in place between January 2024 and January 2025.
The lack of uptake on flood insurance here — combined with rate increases that can grow as floodplains do — mean federal aid dollars are often some of the only funds that survivors for floods will receive to help with rebuilding.
Morrisey acknowledged Tuesday that the state’s topography makes flooding almost inevitable when torrents of rain hit, all but promising the potential for future flooding where federal aid may again be required for recovery.
“West Virginia, because of its topography, has challenges. People know, as you fly over and you see the hills and hollers, that when you have heavy rain, in some counties when you have five inches of rain come in, there’s literally no place for the water to go,” Morrisey said. “It’s very, very difficult and so we have to evaluate that.”
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