WV and National Disaster News and Weather - January 12, 2025

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West Virginia
 
New 911 Center

• Boone County begins design phase for new 911 center to enhance emergency response services (WCHS)

Weather

• Savage storm system set to smash eastern US in brutal rain and snow blast (The Daily Express)
• The next storm system will arrive on Wednesday. Will there be any snow accumulations? (WDTV)

 
National News

FEMA

• ​Trump Administration to Begin FEMA Cuts, Dozens of Disaster Response Workers to Be Terminated (Latin News)
  
• New year, same FEMA funding delays (The Mountaineer) - In North Carolina, Canton town leaders say FEMA Helene recovery funding delays are affecting budgeting and project progress and that they cannot move forward with rebuilding without timely reimbursements.  The Mountaineer reports FEMA Regional Administrator Robert Ashe has promised to accelerate the process, aiming for under 4 weeks instead of 45–90 days. Town Manager Lisa Stinnett says Ashe and his team have shown compassion towards Canton and one official even apologized for dropping the ball on the town's rebuilding projects. Canton is still waiting for nearly $15 million in FEMA Helene reimbursements of which only $640,000 has been received for debris removal and mold remediation. The article notes Canton is also awaiting reimbursements for lease payments on temporary facilities since flooding from Tropical Storm Fred in 2021. “We've been dealing with it longer than anybody else," Mayor Zeb Smathers said.
  

Volcano Activity

• Hawaii's Kilauea volcano nears 40th eruptive episode as activity increases (Fox Weather)

• Heavy rain, snowmelt to raise flood risk from Alaska to Washington (AccuWeather)
• Plunging temperatures, snow chances signal return of typical January winter weather to eastern US (AccuWeather)
• Two coastal storms could deliver snow to parts of Northeast this week (AccuWeather)
• Will El Niño take over in 2026? The odds just got better (MSN)