National Guard Chief: Protect Infrastructure from Flooding

The head of the West Virginia National Guard says the state needs to set standards to make sure water and sewer plants located in flood plains can withstand flooding.

According to the Charleston Gazette-Mail , Adj. Gen James Hoyer told state lawmakers meeting in interim session Sunday that in his 34 years in the National Guard, the same infrastructure systems have required emergency assistance during floods “over and over.”

Hoyer says that while it is more expensive to protect the systems from flooding up front, it saves money in the long term.

Hoyer says the National Guard provided emergency assistance to 20 water and sewer systems damaged by flooding last year.