Updates may be coming to a state program that was created to help flood victims recover in Southwest Virginia, including a measure intended to make funding more accessible to repair or rebuild bridges and retaining walls.
Those changes aim to make it easier for flood victims to tap the state aid. As of Thursday, more than $42 million of the $50 million allocated for the Virginia Disaster Assistance Fund had not yet been disbursed, more than a year after applications for the program opened. Cardinal News first reported on the funding delays last month.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office said Thursday that her administration plans to update guidelines to the program, streamline the process for applicants to receive those funds and expedite applications for the program.
The guideline updates are expected to include a change to the funding limits for residents who need support to rebuild or repair access bridges or retaining walls. The governor’s office did not respond when asked what the new cap will be.
Guideline changes are also expected to reflect amended budget language on floodplain standards passed during the 2026 legislative session. A spokesperson for Spanberger’s office declined to provide details on what impact those changes might have.
The Department of Housing and Community Development, which manages the funding program, is expected to issue details about the changes in the coming days for a 15-day public comment period before the revisions are implemented.
The effort comes after Spanberger’s office met with local leaders, agencies and stakeholders to review barriers to funding through the assistance program. Del. William Morefield, R-Tazewell County; the offices of Natural and Historic Resources and Commerce and Trade; the Department of Housing and Community Development; the Department of Conservation and Recreation; the Cumberland Planning District Commission; and the Buchanan County Department of Social Services were a part of that meeting, a Spanberger spokesperson said.
“I am extremely pleased the governor has agreed to make the changes,” Morefield said in a text message. “I am confident this will help streamline the application process and get much needed help to those impacted by Hurricane Helene and the February 2025 storms.”
The Virginia General Assembly had allocated the $50 million during its 2025 legislative session for recovery following widespread flooding across Southwest Virginia due to Hurricane Helene in 2024 and Winter Storm Jett in 2025.
Lawmakers and agency heads said a number of circumstances created the perfect storm to slow the disbursal of money to flood-affected residents in Southwest Virginia.
Delays caused by confusion, spending caps
Tamarah Holmes, director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, attributed the delay to the length of time it took to launch the program following the storms — about eight months in the case of Helene and about four months in the case of the February flood — as well as to confusion about where residents needed to go to get help. That confusion stemmed from the influx into the region of agencies, organizations and assistance programs from all levels of government, she said.
Morefield, who played a crucial role in the inclusion of the Virginia Disaster Assistance Fund program in the 2025 budget amendments package, blamed the delays on an overreliance on federal aid by the Youngkin administration. He also said the transition from the Youngkin administration to the Spanberger administration in January may have been a factor in delaying the disbursal of funds.
But barriers existed within the assistance program itself.
The $50 million pot of money was split into two buckets: $25 million to provide assistance to homeowners who need to repair or replace damaged or destroyed homes and $25 million to help property owners replace infrastructure such as retaining walls and access bridges.
As of mid-June, one application for the infrastructure assistance program had been approved — out of 147 submitted — and $6,800 had been disbursed of the $25 million available. That amount had increased to $110,376 by mid-September, with five applications under conditional approval, according to the Department of Housing and Community Development.
As of Thursday, $7.6 million had been disbursed through the program as a whole, up from $6.7 million in mid-June.
The main barrier to more residents getting help for infrastructure work: Under the current guidelines, cost estimates to repair or rebuild a bridge can’t exceed $50,000, or $29,000 to repair or rebuild a retaining wall. Almost 60% of the applications had been denied as of mid-June because the cost of the work would exceed those caps. Updates to the program guidelines would increase those caps.
There was also confusion regarding which agency was responsible for infrastructure-related applications, according to Spanberger’s office. Applications that exceeded the cost caps were to be directed to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, but that department’s program had additional federal guidelines regarding flood mitigation that increased the cost and complexity of those repairs.
