Tomblin appealing US decision storm assistance
CHARLESTON (AP) — Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin says he’s appealing a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Administration denying individual assistance to West Virginians who suffered property losses during a fierce windstorm June 29.
The governor said he appealed FEMA’s Aug. 8 determination on Tuesday.
The late June derecho and subsequent storms left three people dead and more than 680,000 customers without electricity across the state. FEMA approved the state’s request for federal assistance to help governments pay for public damages, but denied Tomblin’s request for aid for individuals.
Tomblin said damages from the severe weather were concentrated in four counties: Fayette, Kanawha, Nicholas and Raleigh. They accounted for 42 percent of the homes destroyed in the storm.
