Editor’s note: See link below to see video from John Russell of More Perfect Union on the West Virginia areas devastated by the recent flooding and crying out for help from the Trump administration. In the video, people speak on their abandonment by government and their views on whether Trump should demolish FEMA, as he has proposed, leaving states to take care of disasters themselves, whether their state has resources or not. West Virginia voted 70% for Trump. Now, as people work to help one another survive with few resources themselves, many wonder why the president is turning his back on their pleas. Below are some of their voices in the video. View the video HERE.
A few voices from the video by More Perfect Union:
“The needs are astronomical. There’s people literally sleeping in their yards.
“Driving up and down these streets is so sad, to see the magnitude of so many people who lost everything.
“I fired the grills up. The food bank across the street got flooded. They gave us the key and we cooked everything they had in two days. I think we’re at just over 23,000 free meals we’ve done so far.
“When something bad happens, you come together. That’s the West Virginia way, and we take care of our own.
“Someone jokingly said, ‘You seem like West Virginia FEMA.’ Dude, I’m [actually] a guy in a U-Haul! If I’m West Virginia FEMA, that paints the picture of how abysmal their response has been. I just got a call today from someone begging me to come fix their road saying please help me get out of my house as my wife has dialysis and we need to get her to a hospital, but our road’s out.
“Some of these people are up in their seventies and it’s heart wrenching to see that they’re not going to be able to rebuild. They might not have family and it’s tough to see the older generation need help.
“When disasters like this hit do you assume that help is on the way? I’m talking about the state government, the federal government — a little bit of both.
“Especially in the poorest parts of the state, you learn that the distrust of government is well-earned. Our timber has been taken, our coal has been taken, and the infrastructure has not built up from the money that has been taken out of here. I’ve been told my whole life that West Virginia was the richest state, with the resources, but the poorest people.
“This was Flint before Flint. You know, bad water since the eighties. This is 2025. We’re going forward, but we’re still stuck in the past.
“Neither side. Democrat or Republican has ever come through for the people here.
Look at the homeless, look at the drug addicts walking the road. You know what you’re standing in right now? This is sewer. That’s toilet paper right there.
“When people become desperate they sometimes make desperate decisions. And, that includes who they vote for.
“Governor Morrissey requested a major disaster declaration from President Trump. The request would unlock funding from FEMA that could help people rebuild their homes and support efforts to prevent future floods. But Trump is not the biggest fan of FEMA. His administration has already started firing hundreds of FEMA staff. And when Trump took a trip down to North Carolina in the aftermath of Alene, he proposed getting rid of FEMA altogether. There is a state flood protection fund in West Virginia, but it currently has no funding. If you completely burn the system down and turn it over to the states as President Trump wants to do, and you’re in a state where they’re reporting a $400 million deficit, those states cannot afford to help the people lin need.
“You better have West Virginia’s back because of all the states, West Virginia had your back. People need government assistance. When it comes to disaster relief, like FEMA, do you think we should fund it less? Fund it the same? Fund it more? Yes. Fund it more. Four times like this.
“Nobody is coming to save us but us. All we have is each other.
“We’re not getting any breaks at all. We’re trying to give all the billionaires and rich people breaks. That just don’t make sense to me. That’s the opposite of what you should be doing”.
View the video HERE.
