Huntington District, WV -- The primary components of the project include school relocations; an Emergency Evacuation Plan (EEP); and a voluntary floodproofing and floodplain evacuation program. The Buchanan County Career and Technical Center (BCCTHLC) qualifies for a floodproofing Ring wall around the facility and USACE Huntington District completed the Design Documentation Report (DDR) in November 2019. The least costly feasible flood damage reduction method for Hurley High School (HHS) is relocating outside of the floodplain and Huntington District completed the HHS Design Documentation Report (DDR) in May 2020. In January 2021 the Buchanan County Board of Education, which is the owner of both schools, voluntarily proposed an alternative plan to consolidate the Tech Center and Hurley High School into a shared replacement facility on a new relocation site at Southern Gap. The Huntington District is currently in Relocations/ Floodproofing Agreement negotiations with the Board of Education for this Agreement.
For those structures in the county that were flooded by the April 1977 flood and that are eligible for either voluntary floodproofing (raising the structure above the April 1977 flood level or 100 year, whichever is greater) or acquisition & demolition (purchasing the structure if it cannot safely be raised), the Huntington District has updated our mapping information and performed site visits to confirm eligibility. Eligible landowners received a letter providing information on voluntary floodproof and acquisition eligibility, the application process, and direction to this website for information on the program. The district had been accepting and processing eligible applications since October 2020 and closed the application period on June 30, 2022. The Corps of Engineers then reopened the voluntary application period for 6 months immediately after the July 13, 2022, flood event in the County and will close the application period on January 16, 2023. Those eligible property owners who have not provided USACE with a complete application should do so as soon as possible and contact the district if there are any questions. After an owner’s application is processed and accepted the Huntington District will begin with the floodproofing & acquisition process.
The county is included in the Section 202 program because the April 1977 flood which caused damages in the Buchanan County project area. Section 202 was authorized by the Energy and Water Development Appropriation Act of 1981 and amended by Section 352 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-303) and by Section 336 of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-541), as a response to flooding in the Tug and Levisa Fork basins. The minimum level of protection afforded to the voluntary nonstructural participant is equivalent to the April 1977 flood or 1% annual exceedance event (100-year), whichever is greater. This project encompasses those areas of Buchanan County except for the Town of Grundy, which was addressed previously in a separate Huntington District Flood Risk Management project.
Project eligibility questions should be directed to pa2@usace.army.mil or 1-888-841-9649.