Youngkin discusses more funding for Southwest Virginia counties affected by floods

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA (WJHL) — Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin spoke with News Channel 11 on Monday about additional funding for flood-impacted Southwest Virginia.

On Friday, President Donald Trump approved Virginia’s major disaster declaration, opening up additional funding for recovery efforts after February floods hit Southwest Virginia counties.

Youngkin said the amendments to the budget will unlock additional support for impacted counties, not just from Hurricane Helene but also from the February floods.

“We’ve seen Southwest Virginia suffer,” Youngkin said. “I was very pleased on Friday that President Trump signed the declaration of major disaster so that we could unleash public assistance.

“We know people need to get back to their lives,” Youngkin said. “We want to rebuild.”

Youngkin said the federal government and state are working to shrink the timeline from application to seeing resources to around 90 days.

“We have been in Southwest Virginia repeatedly to make sure that everyone knows how this funding will flow,” Youngkin said. “We continue to be omnipresent to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to get the resources to [counties] so that we can rebuild Southwest Virginia to the greatness I know she is.”

Youngkin said state officials would be on-site later this week to work with localities on accessing the approved funds.