Two new flood mitigation studies coming in WV after multiple deadly floods

by Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch
July 30, 2025

West Virginia is partnering with the federal government to perform two flood mitigation studies in regions known for widespread and often devastating flooding events, according to a news release from Gov. Patrick Morrisey.

The studies will be led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and will focus on communities in Wyoming County — Mullens, Pineville and Oceana — as well as the Kanawha River Basin watershed. The goal, according to the news release, is to evaluate the potential benefits of projects that could help mitigate the worst effects of flooding events in the future.

“We know all too well the dangers that floods pose to West Virginia,” Morrisey said in the news release. “These disasters have disrupted lives, damaged infrastructure, and devastated entire communities. With these new initiatives, we are investing in data-driven, long-term solutions that will help us better protect our people and prepare our state for challenges ahead.”

In the Kanawha River Basin, researchers will study “a comprehensive array of flood risk management strategies” in 20 total counties. Fourteen of those counties, per the release, were directly impacted by the historic floods in June 2016.

The communities being studied in Wyoming County as part of the Upper Guyandotte Flood Study are among those in the state at the highest risk of flooding, per the release. 

According to a 2023 study from researchers at West Virginia University, more than 24% of structures in Wyoming County are considered to be in a “Special Flood Hazard Area” — the fourth highest ratio for any county in the state. About 90% of those structures are residential.

Representatives for the Federal Emergency Management Agency have said that flooding is the number one disaster to hit West Virginia annually. Between 2018 and 2022, according to West Virginia’s hazard mitigation plan, 21 flooding events across West Virginia cost the state more than $26 million in property damage.

At large, residents in the state’s southern coalfields are the most vulnerable in the state for both minor and major flooding events. And every time a flood hits, floodplains in affected areas expand leaving more residents and structures at risk come the next heavy rain due to soil and rock erosion around rivers and other waterways.

The new mitigation studies will be funded through both state and federal dollars. In Wyoming County, costs for the project will be split evenly with the state and the federal government both contributing $1.5 million. The Kanawha River Basin Feasibility Study will also total $3 million and be split 50/50, but several communities labeled as “economically disadvantaged” will qualify for reduced state costs, bringing the state share down to just 10% in those areas.

A spokesperson for Morrisey said the state’s share of funding for these studies will come from the governor’s civil contingency fund, a pot of money that serves as the state’s main resource for handling natural disasters as well as for the governor to use in any way he sees fit.

It’s one of the only flood prevention investments made by the state in recent years despite flooding events becoming more frequent largely due to consequences of climate change.

In 2023, the state created a flood prevention fund under the State Resiliency Office to help protect communities affected by flooding events and implement recommendations included in the state’s flood plan. 

Since its inception, however, the Flood Resiliency Trust Fund has never been allocated money.

Under former Gov. Jim Justice, the Republican-controlled Legislature repeatedly opted against sending money to the fund despite requests from Justice, even while leaders boasted about record-setting revenue coming into the state.

In the House of Delegates this past legislative session, only 19 lawmakers — every Democrat in the House and 10 Republicans — voted in support of an amendment to the proposed state budget that would have put $50 million in the fund.

Morrisey, in his initially proposed budget, also included no funding for the measure.

So far this year, two deadly flooding events — one in the southern coalfields and another in the northern part of the state — have hit West Virginia, costing at least twelve lives and millions of dollars in property damage.

Following the flooding in northern West Virginia last month, where nine people died, Morrisey said he plans to have “additional discussions with the Legislature and others about the importance of flood prevention.”

“I want to make sure we’re learning from the past,” he said.

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