June brought historic flooding to West Virginia — among the deadliest ever recorded in the State. Homes, cars, roads, and bridges were swept away. 26 lives were lost and thousands were left homeless.
Not only did the floodwaters tear homes from their foundations, but it broke gas lines, causing some buildings to engulf in flames.
While floodwaters have since receded, the recovery has just begun for many of West Virginia residents.
Direct Relief’s Response:
In the early hours of the emergency, Direct Relief offered immediate assistance to its existing network of healthcare partners in the affected region, as well as the West Virginia Primary Care Association. Requests for assistance came in right away, with partners expressing an urgent need for a large volume of supplies.
As of July 13, Direct Relief has provided the following health centers and clinics with 40 shipments of Rx medications, vaccines, diabetic supplies and insulin, and personal care items, along with emergency medical kits designed to equip health facilities with the medicines resources required to meet the needs of patients immediately after natural or manmade disaster.
- Access Health, a health center based in Raleigh County, was severely impacted by flooding. Still, the health center’s staff have operated a free clinic for flood victims at its Williamsburg location as well as a mobile pharmacy to reach the worst-hit flood areas. Access Health has also provided tetanus vaccinations (Tdap) to highway workers and patients and has partnered with the National Guard to distribute generators and supplies to families in need. To support their efforts, Direct Relief delivered an emergency health kit — a set of essential medicines and supplies designed for emergencies such as this.
- Cabin Creek Health Systems operates four clinic sites across West Virginia, one of which was severely impacted by the floods and, consequentially, experience an urgent need for Tdap, which Direct Relief provided. Direct Relief also provided medicine to another of Cabin Creek’s clinics, 30 miles from Clendenin Health Center.
- Roane County Family Health Care, a Direct Relief partner since 2009, has partnered with the West Virginia Primary Care Association to organize outreach efforts throughout the southern part of Roane County, where they have visited shelters to provide medical care and distribute supplies, including those delivered by Direct Relief.
- West Virginia Health Right, a free clinic in Charleston, has provided medical relief services throughout West Virginia’s most impacted areas. The clinic building has doubled as a large distribution hub for medical supplies throughout the community.
Partners in Relief
The medical supplies, valued at more than $1 million, were donated by more than 25 companies. They include the following:
- 3M
- AbbVie
- Actavis
- Allergan
- Apotex
- AstraZeneca
- Baxter
- BD
- Boehringer Ingelheim
- Calmoseptine
- Colgate
- Covidien
- CVS
- GSK
- Henry Schein
- J&J (Janssen, J&J Consumer, LifeScan)
- Medtronic
- MedVantx
- Merck
- Pfizer
- Prestige
- Sanofi
- Sappo Hill
- Takeda
- Terry Town
- TEVA
- Unilever
Updated 17:27 PT, July 13, 2016
