Welch, West Virginia — In February, McDowell County in West Virginia was struck by devastating floods that left residents like Rev. Brad Davis with little time to react. Davis, who managed to save his two cats before his home was submerged, described the event as apocalyptic, exposing the deep-rooted challenges faced by the community. The floods claimed at least three lives and left one of the nation’s poorest counties struggling to recover months later. Shawn Rutherford, a resident whose mountain home was severely damaged, expressed the mental and physical toll of the disaster. Welch, once a thriving coal hub, has seen a steady economic decline since the coal industry’s downturn, compounded by an ongoing population loss. The county now faces a poverty rate so severe that even the local Walmart shut down. According to the U.S. Census, McDowell County’s life expectancy is 12 years lower than the national average, and it holds the highest drug overdose rate in the country. While approximately $12 million in federal aid has been allocated, it falls short of addressing the extensive cleanup and rebuilding needs. This has led to growing frustration with the government, as less than half of registered voters participated in the November election. “The people here feel like they have been forgotten,” Davis remarked.
— News Original —
West Virginia community already facing economic decline struggles after devastating flood
Welch, West Virginia — The flood waters tore through McDowell County in West Virginia so fast in February that Rev. Brad Davis barely had time to grab his two cats before his house was swamped.
“The truest meaning of the word ‘apocalypse ‘ in that it pulled back the veil and just underscored all of the challenges that we are facing here as a community,” Davis told CBS News of the flooding, which left at least three people dead.
Four months later, one of the poorest counties in one of the poorest states in the U.S. is still working to recover.
“I mean, it ‘s hard, it really is. It kind of tears you down mentally, physically,” said Shawn Rutherford, whose mountain home was heavily damaged by the flooding.
The city of Welch, the McDowell County seat, boomed during the boom days of coal, but it was already sliding when former President John F. Kennedy came here to campaign in 1960. The poverty has only continued as the coal industry cratered.
“We ‘ve been hemorrhaging population for the last 80 years,” Davis said.
The question they have been asking in McDowell County is how do they fully recover in a community where the poverty rate is so high, and where the population is leaving so quickly that even the local Walmart closed.
According to the U.S. census, the average life expectancy in McDowell County is 12 years less than the rest of the U.S. McDowell County also has the highest drug overdose rate in the U.S.
So far, approximately $12 million in federal relief has been provided to the area since the flooding, but the money doesn ‘t come close to covering all the cleanup and the rebuild.
It ‘s a brutal cycle. With the devastation and the insufficient aid comes a frustration with government. Less than half the registered voters in the county went to the polls in the November election.
“The people here feel like they have been forgotten,” Davis said. “Everyone has effectively forgotten about them and turned their backs on them.”
— news from CBS News