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Audit: Home Projects Incomplete After West Virginia Floods
By: Associated Press
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A legislative audit questions whether replacement homes for West Virginia low-income residents were completed through an assistance program following 2016 deadly floods.
The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports auditors found only the initial phase of a home replacement was covered in invoices paid by the West Virginia Development Office. The audit released Sunday used data from RISE West Virginia, a $150 million flood recovery effort funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The audit says it doesn’t appear any single-home reconstruction or rehabilitation was undertaken and none of the 49 manufacturing housing unit replacement projects were completed.
Gov. Jim Justice earlier this month named West Virginia Adjutant General James Hoyer to take control of the program. State Commerce Secretary Woody Thrasher was forced out after complaints about poor management and residents receiving no help.