WV VOAD in The News
WCHS-TV: Dedication of Clay County bridge marks 50th private span to be replaced under project
IVYDALE, W.Va. (WCHS/WVAH) — Flooding back in 2015 wiped out 500 small private bridges in West Virginia and prompted new efforts to rebuild them.
On Thursday, a special dedication was held in Ivydale in Clay County for the 50th private replacement bridge, financed and built by the West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active In Disaster (VOAD) bridge project. VOAD and its partners have replaced bridges in nine counties.
WV MetroNews: WV VOAD bridge rebuilds hit 50
IVYDALE, W.Va. — The number 50 looked great to Jenny Gannaway Thursday afternoon along a small stream in Clay County.
The executive director of West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (WV VOAD) was in Ivydale with a couple dozen others to dedicate the 50th bridge that’s been constructed as part of VOAD’s program that actually started before the 2016 flood.
“It’s unbelievable to think–it seems like just yesterday we were dedicating the first one–that was in December 2015 and now here we are in 2018, we’re up to number 50,” Gannaway said.
Charleston Gazette-Mail: Volunteers helping repair, rebuild bridges in rural WV
IVYDALE — Martha Adkins teeters across the creek toward her home, stepping on stones and balancing precariously on a metal ladder lying in the water. It is slippery from the ice crystals that have formed in the frigid air.
“Sometimes the water comes up and we have to wade through with rubber boots,” she said, adding that when the water is high enough, it seeps into the boots, soaking her clothes and weighing her down.
Robert Weese, who lives with her, struggles to carry the wood they’ll need for a fire. Pragmatic and practical — “You make do with what you’ve got” — his biggest fear, living as they do on the other side of a creek with a washed-out bridge, is what would happen if either of them needed medical help again. EMTs, he said, would have to pack them out and back across the creek.
WV MetroNews: Clay County family that survived 2016 flood gets keys to new home
The house was made possible by the coordinating efforts of West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (WV VOAD).
WVNS: New home dedicated to family who lost everything in June 2016 floods
RAINELLE W. Va. (WVNS) — It’s been over a year and a half since floods devastated Greenbrier County, leaving many to pick up the pieces and find a place to live.
WSAZ: Volunteers spending the week repairing W.Va. flood-damaged homes
CLAY COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) — A group of volunteers is donating their time this week to help repair homes damaged in the June 2016 flood.
On Monday, a dozen volunteers from Brethren Disaster Ministries were working on a home along Joes Road in Bomont, near Clendenin.
West Virginia volunteer groups build bridge for Clay County flood victim
CLAY COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS/WVAH) — For more than a year and a half Clinton Nichols struggled with day to day errands at his Clay County home. Things like unloading his car or going grocery shopping were near impossible without a bridge to stretch across the creek to his house.