A Double Whammy of Disasters: Flood Recovery during COVID-19 in Rural West Virginia
April 25, 2022
In June 2016, floods devastated several small towns in West Virginia, killing 23 people and damaging thousands of homes and businesses. This talk by Dr. Jamie Shinn, assistant professor of geography at West Virginia University, will present research on flood recovery efforts in Greenbrier County, one of the areas hardest hit by the floods. Results from household interviews and the method of photovoice reveal how ongoing flood recovery efforts have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. They also tell a more complex story than the one commonly told about Appalachia, one of vulnerability and resilience existing side-by-side.