74 People Remain in Shelter Following Floods

devastated the in Woodbridge, assistance for the victims is still underway.

Communications director Jason Grant gave a presentation on Tuesday at the afternoon session of the Board of County Supervisors meeting.

, 14 of 24 units were cleared for occupancy, there is no estimate to rebuild the retaining wall 10 units no clear time frame in mind.

Residents of Holly Acres mobile home park whose homes were deemed unsafe have been allowed the opportunity to get essentials from their homes if escorted by Fire and Rescue. 

“It is my understanding that they have had families move back into the upper part [of Holly Acres],” said Pat Collins, Coordinator of Emergency Management for the county.

A meeting held was with 16 businesses declared unsafe for occupancy Monday and the county is assisting with businesses on permit issues and debris removal.

At its peak, the housed 183 people. Numbers have been going down at the is the pastor of – said Grant. “It started out with 110 people and now it has 74 people currently.”

Red Cross is operating the shelter, and case management is being done by that entity. Additional shelters are being offered by ACTS, SERVE and Hilda M. Barg homeless shelter.

“We are still gathering what the costs will be,” said Grant in regards to direct county costs for the flooding resources.

Damage assessors came to the county on Sept. 15 and Grant said the county expects to hear back within the next few weeks. Prince William County was the first jurisdiction in Virginia to get assessors to come in and evaluate the situation.

FEMA, Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the Small Business Administration have come to assess the damage in the area.

In all, 12 cases for housing have been closed with financial assistance, which could be first month’s rent, security deposit. One case was closed without financial assistance.

Fifty percent of the people originally registered at the shelter have found more permanent housing, said Grant.

Residents affected by flooding should call the American Red Cross at 877-292-1600; affected residents do not have to be staying at the shelter in order to receive assistance.

Volunteer Prince William remains the lead organization on working with non-profits and churches. The United Way announced intent to donate $10,000 to assist the flooding victims of Prince William County.

The $40,000 that the board pledged to the American Red Cross for housing assistance may be used for shelter costs, rental assistance and lodging.

The SPARK flood relief food will be open until Sept. 25 and the donations will be distributed to those registered and approved by the American Red Cross in Prince William County beginning Sept. 26.

The board will be donating $25,000 to the non-profits assisting in the flood effort from proffers to the affordable housing funds. The money will go to the online contribution system managed by the Prince William County schools education foundation system SPARK for the flood relief effort.

Woodbridge district supervisor Frank Principi said he learned in a town hall meeting with business owners Monday that nearly three-dozen business and 180 jobs that have been impacted by the floods on Easy Street on Route 1.

In response to residents during citizens’ time demanding more donations from the county for the flood victims, Chairman Corey Stewart said that the cash donations were not the only way the county was spending money.

“The county’s commitment to the flood victims here is not limited to the $65,000 in cash that was directly appropriated by this board,” said Stewart. “There’s been money paid to the Park Authority for the uses of its facility; not to mention the hundreds of thousands of dollars of county staff time, fire and rescue and department of social services…dedicated to helping these poor folks out.”