photo by: Derek Redd

U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., right, talks with West Virginia Department of Human Services employee Melissa Dovresk on Monday during Capito's Monday visit to the FEMA Disaster Recovery Center in Triadelphia.

TRIADELPHIA — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito applauded the work of Federal Emergency Management Agency, Small Business Administration and state workers for what they’ve done in helping Ohio County residents recover from the deadly flash floods of June 14.

During her Monday visit to the FEMA Disaster Assistance Center in Triadelphia, she also said that more aid soon could be on the way for municipal and county governments.

Capito, R-W.Va., said she has been told that the documentation for public assistance for Ohio and Marion counties was at the Oval Office.

“We hear it’s on (President Donald Trump’s) desk,” Capito said. “We’re hoping it comes through with a little (motivation) from the senator, maybe by the beginning of next week.”

Since Trump signed a federal disaster declaration for Ohio and Marion counties, FEMA and the SBA have been in those areas helping with individual assistance — homeowners, renters and small business owners trying to rebuild after the floods caused millions of dollars in damage in mere minutes.

Public assistance would help local governments recover the resources they’ve used since the floods hit the area.

“They’ve had such a commitment here for overtime and a lot of strain on the city budgets and county budget,” she said. “So we’re hoping the President comes through with that.”

Capito spent the morning into the afternoon in Ohio County, making stops at another FEMA Victims Assistance Center at the former U.S. Army Reserve Center in Wheeling’s Clator neighborhood, as well as the nearly completed new Wheeling Fire Department headquarters before heading to Triadelphia.

While she was at the Triadelphia Community Center, she talked to the various FEMA, SBA and state workers about their roles at the center.

“You can see with all the great folks here in the room, there’s a lot of people here that have helping hands,” she said. “It’s amazing to me in tragedies like this how people really pull together. And you see it every day.”

Capito also praised the local response to the floods, from Ohio County EMA Director Lou Vargo and Assistant Director Tony Campbell, to law enforcement to organizations like Triadelphia United Methodist Church, which has become a community hub in the wake of the disaster.

“West Virginians are known for being neighbors helping neighbors,” she said.

Capito also was asked about West Virginia’s Flood Resiliency Trust Fund, which, when created in 2023, was supposed to help mitigate flooding through measures like dredging waterways and reinforcing bridges. It has yet to be funded by the West Virginia Legislature.

Capito said that, while such a decision is something left to state officials, if she was in charge, she would make sure a resiliency fund had money.

“I absolutely believe in pre-mitigation,” she said. “The fact is, a lot of communities don’t have the money to clear out their creeks. They don’t have the stream restoration. So that’s where I’ve really tried to put a big emphasis on pre-mitigation. It can be identified. You can go to the (Army Corps of Engineers), you can go to the state (Department of Environmental Protection). There’s a lot of resources, but it’s getting the money into those resources. On the front end, it’s not just that it’s safer, but it’s going to save lives and money.”