By Amelia A. Pridemore
Register-Herald Reporter
—
A slow-moving thunderstorm rolled through southern West Virginia Wednesday night and slammed areas of Raleigh County with flooding, lightning and power outages, authorities said.
Raleigh County appeared to be the hardest-hit area as of 8 p.m. Wednesday. The county’s emergency operations center reported numerous weather-related problems. The EOC was inundated with calls, starting at 7 p.m.
The Helen and Rhodell areas appeared to be hit the worst, the EOC said. Both were struck with high water. In Rhodell, firefighters had to move their trucks and evacuate the fire department. Authorities were working to evacuate residents in both areas. They tried to get rescue boats, but there were none available. The Mullens Fire Department was en route to assist Wednesday night.
Lightning also struck an outbuilding on Oak Grove Road in Cabell Heights, the EOC said. The nearby property owner was blown back about 20 to 30 feet. An ambulance crew was en route Wednesday night to check on him. The building also caught fire.
Power outages were reported in the Cool Ridge, Ghent, Shady Spring and Fairdale areas, the EOC said.
Mudslides and downed trees were reported on Tams Mountain. Other areas in Raleigh County reported downed trees as well.
The Wyoming County EOC reported high water in a few places, but no major problems like water rising above the banks, as of 8 p.m. Authorities in Fayette, Greenbrier, Monroe, Nicholas and Summers counties did not report any weather-related problems.
— E-mail: apridemore@register-herald.com
