Kaine tours Hurley, hears from homeowners, volunteers

Virginia United States Senator Tim Kaine Tuesday visited Buchanan County to hear from government and nonprofit leaders regarding the long-term recovery effort following the flooding and landslides of Aug. 30, 2021.

Kaine began by hearing a briefing from The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on efforts to flood-proof existing properties, followed by an update from United Way of Southwest Virginia President and CEO Travis Staton on the work of the Hurley Long Term Recovery Group.

“We call it Long Term Recovery intentionally because it’s about bringing together organizations to work collaboratively on a process that will take every bit of 24 to 36 months, and possibly even longer,” Staton said. “We work with philanthropic dollars and stakeholders to deploy resources in a meaningful way and be accountable.”

After lunch at Hurley High School, Kaine visited with three families in Hurley whose homes had sustained significant damage and were in various stages of the repair and rebuilding process.

Kaine visited the home of Stephanie Stiltner, where significant work has been done. “Butch Meredith from the Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) told me around November, ‘I want to come in and fix your house.’” Stiltner told Kaine. “So, they came in and did an excellent job. They worked with the United Way and their funding.”

Meredith told Kaine that his organization works on long-term projects so that instead of just cleaning out flooded homes, BGAV volunteers can bring home repairs to completion. “We’re more than first response. We’re a rebuilder - and we’re doing it all with United Way money,” Meredith said.

After completing his tour of Hurley, Kaine said he would work to see that the community would receive additional assistance. “The degree of devastation is stunning. It points up the injustice of the original FEMA ruling (to deny individual assistance to families and small businesses). I think the formula at the federal level - they sometimes prioritize the number of people affected more than how deeply people were affected,” Kaine said. “A pretty high number of people were pretty deeply affected here.”

Kaine said he was impressed with the commitment of community members to stay and rebuild, and the appreciation the community showed for the help it has received. “There was a lot of praise for community organizations including the United Way for stepping up big right away.”

For more information or to help Hurley's long-term recovery effort, visit unitedwayswva.org/hurleyflood.