By Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — In 2003, flooding washed off five acres of Maria Gunnoe’s Boone County land, taking out two bridges and killing one of her dogs.
“It destroyed everything,” Gunnoe remembered in a phone interview Sunday.
Gunnoe learned the value of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which supported her with $750 after she reported her damages and another $5,000 after a damage assessment that helped pay her bills and buy food.
A longtime community organizer, Gunnoe, of Bob White, Boone County, is connecting flood-impacted southern coalfield residents with the American Red Cross after she realized FEMA aid wasn’t immediately available after flooding devastated the region over the weekend of Feb. 15-16.
The flooding left at least three people dead in McDowell County, including a 2-year-old boy.
