GREENBRIER COUNTY W.Va. (WVDN) – In Greenbrier County, things happened “before the flood” or “after the flood.”
Tammy Shifflet-Tincher, National Association of Counties Director of Member Engagement experienced the destruction of the flood firsthand. Before the flood, Tammy Shifflett-Tincher ran a cattle farm, worked for a museum, and sold insurance. She met her husband and moved from the east end of Greenbrier County to Rainelle, in the Meadow River Valley.
West Virginia’s historic flood of 2016 hit Rainelle especially hard. “The night the waters came, we worked continually for hours and hours and hours, just helping people get out of the water,” Tincher said.
Ten inches of rain fell in 12 hours. Thousands of homes were destroyed, and damages topped $1.5 billion. In Greenbrier County, 15 people died.
For the survivors, including Tincher, it was a pivotal moment. After the flood, Tincher stayed invested in the clean-up and rebuild. She ran for public office and was elected to the Greenbrier County commission.
“Being the elected official after that, there’s always that feeling that you have a major responsibility,” she said.
Now, life is looking up in Greenbrier County. There’s a link to the country’s newest National Park, a school building has found a second life, and resources to take out abandoned, dilapidated buildings have arrived.
“We’re getting farther out from the flood,” Tincher said. “It’s starting to get away from that.”
All these efforts depend on the vision, hard work and commitment of community members like Tincher, and they’re supported by federal funding. “A lot has come to fruition since the flood,” Tincher said. “That was an event that caused a lot of movement and action after the fact.”
The eastern side of Greenbrier County is rolling farmland. It’s home to the Greenbrier Resort, the largest employer in the county. Tourism generates about $400 million annually in Greenbrier County.
The western side of the county is more mountainous. There are more hollers and it’s in a different watershed. Its economy historically depended on coal mining, and before 1975, the largest hardwood sawmill in the world.
The Meadow River, which walloped Rainelle in 2016, joins the Gauley River that flows into the New River Gorge, designated a National Park in 2020. A trailhead in Rainelle is set to open in the coming year, completing an approximately 20-mile section of the Meadow River Rail Trail through Greenbrier and Fayette counties.
A $2.3 million grant from the federal Abandoned Mine Lands Economic Revitalization (AMLER) program is funding the construction of the trail to Rainelle. Another half-million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields program is aimed at converting the former town dump into a vibrant recreation area.
Future efforts aim to extend the trail through the Gauley River National Recreation Area to the national park, connecting millions of visitors with the beauty, resources, and adventure possibilities in western Greenbrier County.
Money to mitigate brownfields also helped bring new life to the flood-damaged Rupert Elementary School campus. “We didn’t want another abandoned school building in our communities,” Tincher said.
Tincher is a board member of the Meadow River Valley Association, which arose as flood clean-up momentum grew into rebuilding for long-term revitalization.
The Meadow River Valley Association spearheaded the conversion of the school campus into affordable and market-rate apartments with the support of two community development financial institutions (CDFIs): Woodlands Development Group and Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh. The campus includes the MARVEL early learning childcare center and a gymnasium for youth sports, creating a community hub in Rupert (pop. 900).
Through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds provided by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Greenbrier County has received around $600,000 to remove approximately 50 dilapidated and abandoned structures.
“In our unincorporated areas of the county, and particularly in the Meadow River Valley, just being able to remove those structures has made a huge difference in attitudes,” Tincher said. “It’s given us a clean slate. You’re not just driving down the road, and every other structure that you come across is falling down. It’s really helped the vibrancy of our communities.”
Removing abandoned buildings brings new pride and increases attractiveness to visitors. “People are driving here to see a National Park, or they’re driving here to go white water rafting,” she said. “The beauty of our area and the beauty of our state is just second to none. These structures, they’re not what we want people to remember. So this funding, for our communities, has provided a solution that has been needed for so long.”
