Community

Marion receives $450K from FEMA for flood mitigation

FAIRMONT - When it rains ... it floods?

Sure seems like it these days, Marion County's emergency management director Chris McIntire said Thursday.

In the meantime, he said, he'll take that flood of money he just received from FEMA any day.

The federal agency that responds to natural disasters last week earmarked nearly $450,000 to McIntire's county, which he said will be used for a mitigation program that buys houses in the flood plain.

"We actually applied for this money three years ago," he said. "We're very appreciative today."

McIntyre said the outlay from FEMA's Hazardous Mitigation Grant Program will be used to tear down three flood-prone houses across the county.

Dollars may also be used to shore up drainage systems, culverts and other infrastructure.

He didn't disclose their locations, he said, since final details are still being worked out among the property owners.

Marion's buyout program was launched in 2016, he said.

The goal was to make life less soggy for homeowners plagued any time clouds go heavy with rain.

A decade after the formation of Marion's program, the deluges are becoming more frequent, the emergency director said.

"It never stops," he said of the weather events. "One right after the other."

In 2025, a lot of Marion County was pounded by a fierce storm on Father's Day that caused the partial collapse of an apartment building - while also swamping roadways, basements and other homes and businesses.

Other locales in West Virginia and neighboring Virginia were part of the FEMA package, the organization said.

Meanwhile, AccuWeather is calling for a return of showers on Sunday.