By CHAD COOPER, [email protected]
Buchanan County is set to receive nearly $164,000 in federal disaster assistance to help repair road infrastructure damaged during severe winter storms that impacted Southwest Virginia in early 2025.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded $163,925 to support asphalt road surface repair and replacement projects in Buchanan County, according to an announcement on June 8 from U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith’s office.
The funding is part of two disaster-related grants awarded to the Commonwealth of Virginia totaling nearly $1.6 million.
In addition to the Buchanan County allocation, FEMA awarded $1,430,809 to support road restoration projects in neighboring Dickenson County.
Griffith said the funding follows efforts to secure federal disaster assistance after winter weather caused widespread transportation damage across the region.
“In early 2025, winter storms severely impacted transportation infrastructure in Southwest Virginia,” Griffith said in a statement. “This extreme weather event inflicted damage to roads that our communities routinely rely on for access.”
Griffith said he worked with federal officials to support Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration and to make additional federal resources available across Virginia’s Ninth Congressional District.
“These FEMA grants for nearly $1.6 million show federal assistance is on the way to help Dickenson and Buchanan Counties rebuild road infrastructure in Southwest Virginia,” Griffith said.
According to FEMA, the funds are obligated to the Commonwealth of Virginia, which will distribute the funding to local recipients responsible for carrying out the projects.
The grants stem from Virginia’s Major Disaster Declaration approved by President Donald Trump in April 2025 following storm-related damage across portions of the state.
Griffith’s office said the congressman worked alongside U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner in support of the disaster declaration request.
