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Late Monday morning, Gov. Patrick Morrisey confirmed that at least one person in West Virginia has died due to flooding.
“We have one confirmed fatality at this time,” Morrisey said. “We’re obviously going to work to hold off on the identity of that person until the family gets notified. Then, we will provide that to you. There are still several people who are missing, and when we learn more information about that, we will also let you know.”
Morrisey said there have been more than 38 swift water rescues around the state. He said the extent of structural damage due to flooding continues to rise.
“As many know the Tug Fork River and the Bluestone River and some of our tributaries have experienced major flooding levels, something we haven’t seen in a very long time,” he said. “That means that there’s damage to significant numbers of structures and roads and significant evacuations to people to higher elevations.”
As of 11 a.m Monday, said Morrisey, about 30,000 people were still without power. Thirteen West Virginia counties remain in a state of emergency, he said, adding that Mingo, McDowell and Mercer Counties appear to be hardest hit. Morrisey said he is working to ensure federal help quickly becomes available.
“I know that I’ve had conversations with the federal government, in particular with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noam, who has pledged to help,” Morrisey said. “I’m very appreciative of that. We know we’re going to be getting good cooperation from the federal government.”
Morrisey said some schools and other facilities in McDowell County have been set up as shelters.
“We know that there are certain shelters in place in McDowell County, at the Mount View High School, at the eastern Methodist Church in Kimball, also at the Reclamation Church in Welch,” he said. “We know that there’s also a shelter in place at the Mingo Field House in Williamson. We already know that over 50,000 water bottles have been deployed to the affected areas. We’re also coordinating with the Red Cross, other local charities, to make sure that all the appropriate resources can be brought to bear and leverage to help people that are most in need.”’
Morrisey said some West Virginia areas got more than five inches of rain over the weekend.
