A dozen grants totaling more than $1.86 million for flood preparedness projects will go to 10 localities in far Southwest Virginia, a region that has been hit by four major flooding events since the summer of 2021.
Most recently, flooding from the inland effects of Hurricane Helene slammed the area in late September, decimating the Damascus area and the Virginia Creeper Trail. Over the Feb. 15-16 weekend, Buchanan, Dickenson and Tazewell counties sustained major flooding after days of rain dumped more than 7 inches of precipitation across the region.
The awards were part of a total of $67 million in grants statewide from the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund that were announced last week by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
“The devastation experienced in Southwest Virginia during Hurricane Helene underscores the importance of preparedness and flood resilience,” he said in a news release. “These awards will equip communities with resources and tools to mitigate the impact of future disasters.”
The fund, administered by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, supports localities to mitigate the impacts from flooding. The projects are intended to expand flood prevention and protection efforts including mitigation, local government capacity building, planning and studies, the news release states.
In far Southwest Virginia, Tazewell County received the most through two grants, one for $193,146 for a flood hazard assessment and mitigation study of the community of Claypool Hill and the Richlands Fire and Rescue Station 3. The second grant of $266,664 will be used for a mill dam removal study and flood hazard assessment and mitigation study of the Blacksburg Street community.
“Blacksburg Street suffers from chronic nuisance flooding in routine rain events,” Tazewell County Administrator Eric Young said. “However, serious storm events can trap residents by blocking their only exit street and threaten their homes. This grant will pay to design and implement a solution. Also, our fire station in Claypool Hill serves about 5,000 residents with fire protection. It also floods regularly, damaging the building and equipment. This grant can remedy this situation and save us from paying to relocate the station.”
The county had a flood mitigation study conducted in 2023 that identified several locations in the county where flooding has been or could be a problem. Since then, they’ve applied for six grants to either design a solution in those areas or to implement a solution. In 2024, the county received four grants and work is underway, Young added.
The town of Damascus, which is in Washington County, also will receive two grants, for $55,000 each. The money will go toward a resilience plan and for post-disaster hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, which will be used for the resilience plan, town policies and Federal Emergency Management Agency maps.
The town of Wytheville will receive a grant of $450,000, which will be used for a townwide drainage study.
Other grants were approved for:
- the town of Wise, $30,000 for a resilience plan and staff training
- Wise County, $157,109 for a resilience plan and $274,749 for a hydrologic and hydraulic study of the northern part of the town of Wise, the town of Pound and the community of Tacoma
- Bristol, $180,000 for a resilience plan
- Buchanan County, $103,500, for a debris management plan
- Galax, $55,000 for flood modeling
- Carroll County, $48,500 to update the county’s floodplain ordinance and for staff training
The full list of awarded projects is available at www.dcr.virginia.gov/cfpf.
