By Joselyn King, The Intelligencer
WHEELING — Protesters — many of them flood victims who lost their homes and belongings on June 14 in the communities of Triadelphia and Valley Grove — came out Saturday to urge President Donald Trump to sign a federal disaster declaration that will make them eligible for financial assistance.
About 30 people gathered at the intersection of National Road and Edgington Lane carrying signs intended to persuade Trump that funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency is needed locally and quickly so victims can begin to restore their lives.
Logan and Jenna Pickens said they have been living with his grandmother since the flood. He is a bus driver for Ohio County Schools, and she is a medical assistant at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital’s Wheeling Clinic.
“Me and my wife lost everything to this flood,” Logan Pickens said. “It sucks that we have to do this, while every other state that has been affected — I pray for them — has gotten their funding quickly and we haven’t.
“It’s not fair to me and my wife and the people who were affected down through Valley Grove. It’s not fair at all.”
