Mercer County awaits FEMA damage assessment results

MERCER COUNTY, W.Va. (WVVA) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency completed its damage assessment last week in Mercer County. Now it’s a waiting game to see if the county qualifies for federal disaster assistance.

Bluefield City Manager Cecil Marson says FEMA officials surveyed a lot of damage in the city and county while visiting people who reported storm damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Helene. Marson says teams have visited hundreds of people in the county.

While not everyone reporting damage has been visited, Marson says that doesn’t mean the damage isn’t being included in a potential disaster declaration. Marson says it could take two to five weeks before the county knows whether it qualifies for federal assistance or not.

“If the declaration is declared and the governor makes that declaration, what will happen is FEMA will create a disaster relief center somewhere here in the county,” Marson said. “It will be open all day for people to come in and basically sit down with one-on-one counseling and work through the different programs that are available to get some assistance and some funding.”

Storm damage surveys are still active and Marson is encouraging people in Mercer County to fill out the survey if they were affected by the storm. Marson says city residents who still need storm damage removed can contact city hall for possible assistance.

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