Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 8, 1995 TAG: 9507100068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROBERT LITTLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Flooding since June 22 has caused more than $100 million in damage to homes, property, roads and other structures, mostly in the north-central areas of the state and around Danville and Lynchburg to the south.
State officials estimate about 1,200 homes have been damaged and 100 roads washed away.
The cost of disaster relief will not be determined for several weeks, but 929 applications for individual assistance had been filed by Thursday. Each applicant could be eligible for as much as $12,600 in grants and loans at 4 percent or 6 percent interest.
Today, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials will meet with government leaders in flooded areas to begin the process of distributing public assistance for roads, utilities or other government needs.
In most cases, the state will pay 25 percent of the costs, the federal government the rest.
``It won't compensate entirely for the difficulty they are experiencing, but certainly it should give them some comfort,'' Sen. Charles Robb, D- Va., said Friday while in Richmond for a briefing with state and federal officials.
Robb will inspect flood damage in the Roanoke Valley and Buena Vista this afternoon.
President Clinton named 12 Virginia localities as disaster areas last Saturday: The counties of Albemarle, Augusta, Campbell, Culpeper, Giles, Greene, Madison and Rockbridge, and Buena Vista, Lexington, Lynchburg and Staunton.
Bath, Halifax, Orange, Pittsylvania, Rappahannock and Warren counties were added Thursday. Roanoke was made eligible only for individual assistance.
Victims of flood damage in areas not planned for relief money can still apply for assistance and will become eligible to receive it if their localities are declared disaster areas. Franklin, Bedford and Amherst counties are being considered.
To be eligible for assistance, individuals must show a need. Typically, money is available only to people ``of modest income,'' Robb said. The money covers only disaster-related costs not covered by insurance.
by CNB