Concord Aids Students Affected by Summer Floods

Southern West Virginia experienced record-setting flooding early in the summer. 
                            Image by Rebecca Hinkle

    Concord students have returned to campus, but some have dealt with the hardships of the flood this past summer.

    On June 23, West Virginia suffered from a flood that affected the counties of Summers, Greenbrier, Clay, Fayette, Roane, Webster, Nicholas, Ohio, Jackson, and Kanawha. People lost their homes, cars and precious memories. Some people also lost family members, the floods causing the deaths of over 20 people. Younger students lost their schools, and must now continue their education in schools in other counties. Although the actual number of Concord students affected by the flood is unknown, they have received help.

    Alicia Glover, a Senior Music Education Major at Concord from White Sulphur Springs, was one student who was affected by the flood. “Power was out for days, roads were completely wiped out leaving some stranded with no way out of town, businesses were destroyed and homes were washed completely off their foundations,” says Glover.

    This past summer, the CU Foundation 630 Challenge offered assistance to students who were affected by the flood. Bren Yeager, the Interim Executive Director of the CU Foundation, says that the amount of money donated was $10,000. Financial aid also provided extra assistance to students in need. Glover says “The financial aid department has been really helpful, both with offering help to those who were hit by the flood and also just helping find any additional aid I may qualify for. Also knowing that I had friends I nearly consider family helped me be okay with leaving while there’s still work to be done.”

    Concord University has not been the only place to offer help. Since the flood occurred many organizations have reached out to offer support. “Both my mom and my grandparents had to apply with FEMA to help cover the cost of all the damages. The places handing out free food also helped since they both lost all their groceries. They had actually gone grocery shopping that morning so they lost everything that was refrigerated,” said Glover. Recently, Appalachian Power employees donated $100,000 to flood relief.

    All of the counties affected are still recovering, including the eight that are still under a State of Emergency. The West Virginia National Guard has started demolishing homes. “You never know just how lucky you are and what you take for granted until something like this happens. You learn to be grateful for the little things like electricity, but also the things you don’t think about; having a house to go home to at the end of the day, being able to speak to loved ones. You also truly see how a small town works: before any outside help arrived it was the residents helping, those who owned boats were trying to get to those who were stranded and people just helped out in any way they could, whether it be by giving clothes, or even offering up their couch to someone who couldn’t sleep in their bed that night,” says Glover. 6.5 million dollars has been spent so far on recovery. 

    Even though cleanup crews and help are still available in the counties, there is still a lot of work to be done. “There are still lots of people without homes and roads are still gravel in places. I know there’s a housing project that broke ground a few weeks ago to help those who lost their homes. It’s both big things like that as well as little things like making sure everyone has the things they need to get through the week or the month. As much recovering that’s been done, there’s still a long way to go, and no matter how much work is done our small town will never really be the same,” said Glover.