A week after deadly floods ravaged West Virginia, all residents in one of the hardest-hit towns have tap water again. They just can't drink it yet.In a…
A week after deadly floods ravaged West Virginia, all residents in one of the hardest-hit towns have tap water again. They just can’t drink it yet.
In a news release Friday, West Virginia American Water said it has restored tap water to all areas of Clendenin.
About 3,000 people around Elkview and Clendenin didn’t have tap water following the June 23 floods that killed 23 people statewide.
Although it has now been restored to all households in that region, residents are being advised to boil it before using it.
Other areas of the state also lost tap water, and at the peak of the floods, tens of thousands of homes and businesses were without power. Only a few hundred were still without power Friday.
Philanthropy West Virginia wasn’t always equipped to handle disaster relief. The three-person non-profit organization based in Morgantown works year-round to help philanthropists maximize their impact through their donations, in part by learning from the mistakes and successes of similar organizations across the country.
But as volunteers, hospitals and shelters spring into action in flood-affected areas of the southern part of West Virginia, Philanthropy West Virginia has been working behind the scenes to ensure that donors nationwide know how to best help those recovery efforts.
Paul Daugherty
When Paul Daugherty, the president and CEO of Philanthropy West Virginia, described the organization’s mission, he evoked the persona of a marriage counselor.
“We want to make sure that the public – locally, regionally, nationally – know what entities to give to,” he said. “And so that’s one key thing – is just communicating to folks about the resources.”
Philanthropy West Virginia is in the business of communication, acting as the liaison between donors and charity organizations. The non-profit does not work on the ground, but rather relays what flood victims need to the people across the nation who want to give. It works with national and state-wide volunteer and emergency response groups to try to reduce the number of well-intentioned donors who send victims items they don’t need. It also provide a list of reputable organizations that are accepting donations in flood-affected counties to help donors avoid scammers.
“And every other day I’m email, texting, Facebooking, um, tweeting on a phone with someone with someone on the ground saying, ‘What are the needs? Where can we direct resources?’” Daugherty said.
This is the first time that Philanthropy West Virginia has been in a place to support volunteers on the ground. It follows the Disaster Philanthropy Playbook, a guide for philanthropies in times disaster that an organization in New Jersey created after Hurricane Sandy. Daugherty said New Jersey learned so much about long-term relief after the 2012 hurricane – they didn’t realize how many lawsuits would arise once victims were ready to return or relocate to their homes, and they didn’t realize how long the long-term recovery process would take.
“What’s happened here with this tragic event, this horrific flood, is that there’s going to be many, many months, if not years, of recovery required. And we want to involve everybody at the table to make sure they have a strong quality of life in their homes as well as in their neighborhoods and in their communities,” Daugherty said. “And that’s something that we all have to be a part of that dialogue with.”
Daugherty acknowledged that many flood victims don’t know what they’re doing tomorrow, much less next week. So Philanthropy West Virginia is continuing to help philanthropies address short-term problems while looking down the road for long-term recovery needs. Meanwhile, Daugherty said he and his staff are learning from the mistakes made by organizations in other states while using the West Virginian spirit to move forward in the recovery process.
Following flooding in West Virginia that killed 23 people and ravaged thousands of homes and businesses, Kanawha County is waiving building permit fees in the Elkview and Clendenin areas.
The Kanawha County Commission voted Wednesday to waive the fees to all residential and commercial areas where houses and other buildings were damaged or destroyed by last week’s storm.
Building permits are required for all new construction projects to meet federal guidelines as defined in the Kanawha County Floodplain Ordinance.
Commissioner Kent Carper says in a news release that the fee waiver “will help expedite the rebuilding process” for residents and businesses without forcing those in the area to incur any costs.
Those seeking a building permit are being asked to contact the Kanawha County Commission’s planning office at 304.357.0570.
Residents affected by the West Virginia floods may be at higher risk for mold exposure. While common reactions to mold include a cough, congestion, runny nose, and sore throat, more serious complications can develop, including lung infections. People with chronic lung conditions or weakened immune systems may be more susceptible to complications.
Mold likes to grow in damp, wet places – like homes hit during the recent floods in West Virginia.
Signs of mold growth include staining on surfaces, a musty odor, dark spots on or around vents, water stains and peeling or curling of vinyl floors or wallpaper, according to the Department of Health and Human Resources.
Special face masks and protective clothing should be worn while trying to remove mold from a home or indoor space. Professional help may be necessary to completely eradicate the growth.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation.
Update: This story originally aired on NPR on June 26. Since then 10 counties have been declared federal disaster areas and the state of emergency has been lifted for 32. The death count has been updated to 23.
Marsha Larch lived in the same Clendenin, West Virginia, home for 50 years – ever since she got married at the age of 16.
“And I never seen water like this before in my life,” she said.
Larch stands on what used to be her back deck, looking out onto the river at least 35 feet below. On the night of the flood, Larch fled to higher ground in her camper as water rushed into her home. By the time the water receded more than a day later, stinking mud covered the surface of everything lying outside her home: items for recycling, furniture and even clothes that had washed out from the living room.
Drive down Larch’s street and you’ll see she is not the only one who has lost everything.
At least 24 people are confirmed dead and thousands are still without power and water after severe flooding devastated several West Virginia towns Thursday. Forty-four counties are still under a state of emergency. While FEMA has approved some disaster assistance, the vast majority of rescue, cleanup and support so far has been provided by the local communities.
“You’ll go from what looks to be normal, everyday houses just fine to complete destruction, just the foundations left with nothing but mud,” said Less Mitchell of the West Virginia FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Team.
Credit Kara Lofton / WV Public Broadcasting
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WV Public Broadcasting
Marsha Larch’s kitchen after the flood waters receded.
“We’ve been doing wide area searches looking for any individual who may still be trapped within their structure,” he said.
FEMA approved aid to three West Virginia counties Saturday.
But for the past three days, most of the search and rescue and disaster relief has been provided by locals, including the West Virginia National Guard.
“So the challenge is you got folks that couldn’t get out who got injured, and we’re still trying to find a way with first responders, with us backing them out, just trying to get to people, but there was just water everywhere,” said Captain Will Hargis.
He pointed at a stop sign they used to gauge whether the guard’s low-medium tactical vehicles could clear the rising water. They couldn’t. He said they ended up using swift water rescue crews to access those trapped by the flood. Others were pulled from their homes by neighbors like Joe Snider who got folks out using fishing boats.
“Well, I got Betty Blackwell out, but I could carry her out. It wasn’t as deep, and this was deeper, and I had to put ‘em in a boat and bring them,” said Snider.
In Clendenin, Marsha Larch leaned over her deck rail and pointed at a support pole sliding slowly toward the river in the thick mud. It’s just a matter of time, she said, before the whole house collapses onto the bank.
“I’m abandoning it,” she said. “I can’t do nothing. You know…you’re retired you can’t…I worked for 36 years for the power company, and I retired and worked on my home and got it all ready and now it’s gone.”
Like most of the people affected by the floods, Larch said she never carried flood insurance; the water never came up high enough to need it.
Most of the water began to recede Saturday morning. Now all that’s left is a coating of mud that smells strongly of feces from overflowed sewer lines. Throughout the hardest hit towns, piles of mud-encrusted furniture littered front lawns like some kind of perverse yard sale.
Larch said she holds out hope that FEMA will help her rebuild her home. She said she had just finished renovations that she looked forward to enjoying in retirement.
In the meantime, she said, she will take the camper, what she can salvage from her home, and relocate.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation.
Country music star and West Virginia native Brad Paisley toured flood damaged areas of Kanawha County Thursday after committed to help the region recover from catastrophic flooding.
The floods, which left 10 counties named federal disaster areas, killed 23 people and damaged or destroyed thousands of homes.
Paisley made stops in the Clendenin area, joined by senators Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito, which included a tour of the mud soaked band room of Herbert Hoover High School.
Credit Ashton Marra / West Virginia Legislative Photography
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Guitars, sheet music and other items litter the floor of the band classroom at Herbert Hoover High School. Seven feet of water filled the room during Friday, June 24, floods.
Covered in about an inch of mud, sheet music and instruments laid strewn across the classroom floor. The first floor of the building took on about 7 feet of flood water.
The clean-up process has begun in the school, but mud and water still stand in the band room, two gyms, cafeteria, and wood shop.
“Any photo doesn’t do justice to sort of this thing that goes on in your mind that you’re thinking, I shouldn’t be breathing this,” Paisley said after viewing the damage. “That feeling in a school is a terrible feeling.”
Kanawha County schools are scheduled to begin classes in early August.
Herbert Hoover principal Michael Kelley says both the county and his school are committed to starting classes on time. His students and his community need a return to normalcy, he added.
