On February 15th, 2025, Southern West Virginia became flood ravaged. Entire towns were submerged underwater. Businesses, roads, and homes were destroyed by the rainfall. The federal government did not approve of federal disaster relief until February 26th, eleven days after the flooding began. Although the federal government hesitated to assist West Virginians, nonprofits and community leaders did not.
I spoke with Bluejay Rising founder and former candidate for the U.S Senate Zachary Shrewsbury about his organization’s work to assist flood victims in southern West Virginia. “Bluejay Rising is a (501) (c)(4) that does voter registration, voter outreach, pushing progressive talking points through mutual aid work. We go into communities, find issues that are very prevalent, and help solve those issues while also helping people find their voice in that community to hold their representatives accountable for why those issues aren’t being solved,” Shrewsbury said.
When I spoke with Shrewsbury, he confirmed that Bluejay Rising did not receive any assistance from the state or federal government in his organization’s assistance efforts. “It’s been all our own, all of our own personal labor, grassroots. We have had no federal assistance. We were on the ground the very next day after the floods, trying to organize and deal with it,” he said.
Shrewsbury confirmed that the FEMA did approve $750 checks that “people can apply for and receive if they apply for it and fill it out correctly.” Shrewsbury insisted that is not enough for people who are suffering in the flood impacted areas. “It’s not enough, we need the whole package of this,” he said.
When asked about the work that Bluejay Rising did in the flood impacted areas, Shrewsbury could not underestimate the impact of his organization’s work. “We were organizing supplies, making contacts with people to get trucks and supplies in.” Shrewsbury continued, “I say currently we are keeping numerous communities, very small communities in the hollers alive. They do not have resources. They’re not getting the supplies, or a lot of supplies, or any at all. So, my organization is ensuring that they are staying alive. I mean, no one else is supplying them. We have different small, you know, allied groups that are helping us do that. We just got back from McDowell County today in Bradshaw, delivering bleach and cleaning supplies. We do a lot. It has been a daily thing during the past two weeks, where we are doing this every day, sending out supplies to multiple communities in Mingo, McDowell and Mercer counties and Wyoming. We are probably impacting thousands of lives with the work we are doing.”
I also spoke with John Paul Lusk, a WVU student and Wyoming county native. We spoke about the impact of the flood devastation on his community, and the impact of everyday people working to mediate the effects of the flooding. “There are several people who have lost everything, individuals and businesses, the entire town of Welch is almost completely destroyed. And there’s cleanup still being done all over southern West Virginia, some 2-3 weeks later, whatever it was. It’s just really saddening. It also fills me with a lot of pride to see how willing these people are to step up and make sure everything gets back to normal. We’re still a long way from normalcy, but inching closer every day,” Lusk Said.
It has become clear that in times of crisis, West Virginians must rely on our own people to come together and work through any problems that are facing our communities, including devastating natural disasters. However, this model of assistance must not continue if the State of West Virginia wishes to form a sustainable model for disaster relief. While politicians in Charleston are passing legislation that defines “men and women,” men and women across West Virginia are doing the work that is necessary to relieve communities that are being destroyed by the floods. Going forward, politicians in Charleston must prioritize creating a sustainable natural disaster and emergency relief model that does not rely on everyday West Virginians using U-Hauls and pickup trucks to help their fellow citizens.
