Wheeling officials urge residents to complete damage surveys as flood recovery continues

Wheeling Mayor McGruder and city officials used the June 17 City Council meeting to urge residents affected by the weekend floods to complete individual damage surveys so the city and state can pursue federal disaster assistance.

The request followed a week of emergency response and heavy volunteer relief work. "This has been an extremely tragic week for our community and for our neighbors in Battle Grove and Philadelphia," Mayor McGruder said, thanking first responders and volunteers.

City Manager Mr. Herron said the damage surveys are a required part of any federal disaster designation and that the city is documenting losses to build a request to the governor and, ultimately, to FEMA. "When FEMA considers whether or not there's a federal disaster area, there's a lot of criteria that go into that, one of which are these damage surveys and the extent of the damage that has occurred," Herron said. He added that elected officials at the state and federal level had been in contact: "Senator Capito's office has reached out... congressman Moore was here yesterday. Senator Justice's office has also reached out. And, of course, governor Morrissey has been here, and he made his declaration very quickly."

Mayor McGruder asked residents who experienced property or vehicle damage to complete the individual assessment damage survey and provided a web address printed during the meeting: emd.wb.gov/disastersurvey. He said city volunteers will help residents who are not comfortable using the online form.

Council members and staff described widespread damage concentrated in Valley Grove and Triadelphia and praised the response by city police, fire and operations teams. City Manager Herron noted that some neighboring jurisdictions and state agencies — and the Army Corps of Engineers and National Guard — have provided support for search, rescue and cleanup.

Officials repeatedly thanked community volunteers and urged continued support for long-term recovery: "I only hope that they continue because for those people who've been affected, this recovery period is not sure. It won't end this week or next week or next month," the mayor said.

The council did not take a formal vote on any new recovery measures at the meeting; officials said they will package documented damage and requests through the state emergency management agency for potential federal designation.

The meeting also included reminders that recovery will be long-term and that residents who need help completing surveys should expect door-to-door assistance and staffing at shelters and donation centers.