Published: May 10, 2009 10:39 pm      

Flooding cleanup begins

Southern West Virginia residents cleaned up water, mud and muck from their properties — and their lives — Sunday as they worked to recover from Saturday’s severe flooding.

Raleigh, Wyoming, Logan, McDowell and Mingo counties remained under a state of emergency that Gov. Joe Manchin declared. While the weather remained dry Sunday, residents still had to clean up and deal with numerous challenges, such as having no water service.

Marty Agee, deputy director of the Raleigh County Emergency Operations Center, said she toured the Fireco, Jonben and Willibet Hollow areas Sunday. The main remaining issues there, she said, are some road and culvert blockages. Floodwaters in the Fireco area had gone into houses. The EOC dropped off cleaning kits for those residents.

“They’re just trying to get back to normal,” she said.

In the Rhodell area, residents still have no water service, she said. The town’s water treatment facility flooded Saturday, and contaminated water reached the lines. No contaminated water, though, reached the tank or filters. The contaminated water must be flushed out, and debris must be cleaned from the building before the service can be restored.

EOC workers delivered enough drinking water to Rhodell residents Saturday to last through Sunday, she said. Today, another supply should be delivered. The Raleigh County Commission authorized the water delivery.

Customers who lost phone service in the northern end of Rhodell are believed to have it restored, Agee said. No power outages have been reported.

“The power is on. It’s just the water,” she said.

Residents of all ages, Agee noted, were seen feverishly cleaning Sunday.

“They were working like Trojans,” she said. “...In Jonben, I saw a family of about four adults and five kids, and a little 4-year-old boy was shoveling debris. That’s the character of people here. They — even a little boy — see something that has to be done, and they do it.”

Dean Meadows, Wyoming County’s emergency services director, could not be reached Sunday because he was touring the hardest-hit Hanover area. Employees from the Wyoming EOC said he and others were mainly handling damage assessment.

As of Sunday afternoon, 150 Wyoming County structures reportedly had “major damage.” Saturday, people in Hanover reportedly fled to mountains or rooftops to escape floodwaters. All major roadways in the county were blocked for most of the day.

Manchin and U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., were expected to visit Mingo County Sunday. This county is believed to be the state’s hardest-hit, with about 100 structures destroyed, 500 with major damage and 1,000 with minor damage.

Manchin activated 300 Guard troops Sunday on top of the 30 he called up the day before when he declared a state of emergency for five counties, said Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management spokesman Robert Jelacic.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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