Tag: Emergency

911 Outages Disrupt Emergency Communications In Berkeley County

911 lines were experiencing a temporary outage in Berkeley County, W.Va., leaving residents unable to contact county-level emergency services.

Updated on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024 at 12 p.m.

Emergency 911 lines in Berkeley County temporarily went down Wednesday morning, leaving residents unable to contact county emergency services.

The first alert was issued at 11:10 a.m. via Berkeley County’s text message alert system. 

News of the outage was then shared on various county social media pages, including the official Facebook page of the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Department.

For less than an hour, residents were unable to use county emergency lines or non-emergency lines linked to the Berkeley County Department of Emergency Communications.

“[Emergency officials] are working to resolve this issue,” stated the post on Facebook prior to the restoration. “Please contact your local fire, police, or EMS in the event of an emergency. We will update as soon as the lines are back up. Law enforcement can be reached at the following numbers: Berkeley County Sheriff’s Dept. 304-267-7000, Martinsburg City Police 304-264-2100 [and] West Virginia State Police 304-267-0000.”

In November, similar outages in other West Virginia counties left residents unable to contact emergency services for up to 10 hours cumulatively.

911 Outages Left 13 Percent Of W.Va. Residents Without Emergency Services For Up To 10 Hours

An agency tasked with operating West Virginia’s 911 centers has filed a complaint against Frontier West Virginia Inc.

On Wednesday, the E911 Council, the umbrella agency that operates 911 centers in the state, filed a complaint against Frontier Communications with the Public Service Commission (PSC).

According to the complaint within the past 24 months, several Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) within the state have experienced lengthy outages of 911 service.

The most recent outage was from Nov. 28 through Nov. 30 where Brooke, Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Tyler, Doddridge, Ritchie, Harrison, Taylor and Mingo County residents were unable to call 911 for up to 10 hours.

The Executive Director of the E911 Council, Dean Meadows, said normally during outages calls can be rerouted, but Frontier Communications failed to reroute the calls.

“Because that plan failed, that put 235,000 residents in West Virginia without the ability to call 911,” Meadows said. “So that’s 13 percent of the population for between six to 10 hours could not call 911 in an emergency situation.”

Meadows also pointed out that the outages occurred during hazardous weather conditions in northern West Virginia, endangering those traveling on the state’s interstates.

Meadows said the E911 Council filed the complaint to prevent future outages.

“What’s happened in the past few years is 911 centers have been given a false sense of security, that there’s redundancy and diversity within their centers that if there’s a fiber cut, or vandalism to to the fiber somehow that their centers will still be covered through this redundancy, but we’re finding out, unfortunately, that’s not the case, the redundancy is not there,” Meadows said.

The PSC said it cannot comment on pending investigations.

National Emergency Alert Test Planned On Oct. 4

A national Emergency Alert System test will begin Wednesday at approximately 2:20 p.m.

A national emergency alert system test will begin Wednesday at approximately 2:20 p.m. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Communications Commission will be testing an alert system that notifies the public of national, state or local emergencies.

The text will display on smartphones in either Spanish or English, depending on the language settings. An alert will also go out on radio and TV. Kanawha County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman said if you get an alert outside of routine testing it generally means something very serious is going on. 

“It means to pay attention to alerts, go inside, turn on your TV or radio. Try to get more information,” he said. 

He said the use of TV, Radio and Cellular alerts helps provide wider coverage, especially for areas with no cellular signal.

“The emergency alert will kind of tell you what’s going on but you may want more information to know what kind of protective actions you should take,” Sigman said. 

To ensure that these alerts are accessible to the entire public, including residents with disabilities, the alerts will have a unique tone and vibration.

Communities Work Together In The Aftermath Of Devastating Floods

“These are our people, we have to help.” WVPB speaks with community members affected by recent flooding in Kanawha County. The communities around Slaughter, Witcher, Fields, Kelly and Horse Mill Creek had six to nine inches of precipitation through Monday morning.

The National Weather Service received its first call about the flooding at 6:45 a.m. Monday after rain blanketed eastern Kanawha County through the weekend. 

The storm intensified early Monday, by which point the soil was saturated and water was running off the mountain. The communities around Slaughter, Witcher, Fields, Kelly and Horse Mill Creek had six to nine inches of precipitation through Monday morning.

As the water moved down the hills and into creeks beds, it brought debris with it. The more water, the more debris. 

Eventually those waterways backed up, and when the water had nowhere else to go, it went into people’s homes, cars, farms and gardens.

Ray Lyons’ home is off Kelly Creek in Mammoth, the location that saw the most rain during the storm Monday. Flood waters came within five feet of his house and flooded his acre-wide vegetable and fruit garden.  

“It just came up so fast. Within two hours — and it just kept coming,” Lyons said.

He said during the rain he worked to keep debris, like logs and large mud deposits, out of the road in front of his house so that cars could get through — and escape the flooding.  

Eventually the road became too deep with water to pass.

“A lot of people couldn’t get through, and that, oh, that was terrible,” he said.

After the flood, Lyon and his cousin worked with an excavator to dig debris out of the creek to help drain water off the land.

“State [crews] didn’t come up. But you know, I can take care of it, I have lived up this holler my whole life,” he said.  

Further downstream from Lyon’s home, in the town of Cedar Creek, the water breached the banks and flooded the land around the confluence of Horsemill Creek and Kelly Creek. 

Most of the damage in the area that was accessible Tuesday was a gravel parking lot. It had been completely stripped of gravel during the floods and was a muddy bog on Tuesday.

Ken Barton was on site, leaning against a dump truck with a cane in hand. He used to be mayor, but on Tuesday he was working with construction crews wearing bright yellow “Town of Cedar Creek” shirts and reflective overalls.

“You can see where all the mud and everything is,” Lyon said. “The water came out this way, pushed all this stuff over here.”

He said the mayor asked him and the rest of the crew to head down and help the state crews. His crews worked alongside state crews to clean up the damage and restore the banks of the creek.  

“These are our people, we have to help,” Barton said.

Several homes were lost, and more were damaged in Monday’s flood. 

On Monday, there were more than 700 calls and 22 water rescues. Some towns saw roadways turn into rivers. Access to these towns is still limited as of Wednesday, and crews are working to open roadways that were blocked by fallen trees and mudslides.

The damage assessment process began Tuesday, and officials are beginning the process of working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other national and state agencies to get money back to the communities to help with recovery and cleanup. 

Agencies Brace For Flooding With More Rain On The Way

Many of the areas that saw flooding Monday are on track for more rain Tuesday and into the night. 

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Many of the areas that saw flooding Monday are on track for more rain Tuesday and into the night. 

Jennifer Berryman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said light rain is expected thoughout the day in central and southern West Virginia with heavier rain possible into the evening. 

The Division of Emergency Management, National Guard, Metro 911, Emergency Operations Center and the National Weather Service are all standing by waiting to see what storms develop and where.

There is a 60-80 percent chance of rain over central, eastern and southern West Virginia. Berryman said that storms are tracking to cross over Charleston up to Clarksburg, and other cells to move over Fayette County down to McDowell County.

She said that the weather service still doesn’t know how much precipitation these fronts will deliver to those areas.

Kanawha County Commissioner Lance Wheeler was at the Emergency Operations Center at Kanawha County Metro 911 Monday and said that those agencies are fully staffed and ready to assist if another heavy rain does cause more flooding.

“The big question is — is the storm front going to move though or is it going to hover over the area and drop a lot of rain?” said Wheeler.

He said after four days of rain the soil is completely saturated.

“The ground can only take so much water,” Wheeler said. “When this rain comes a third time, it’s going to roll right off the hill and it’s going to fill in these valleys and this river, and it’s going to bring that water level even higher. So, what we could see is maybe less rain coming in, but more potential for hazard.”

Wheeler advised residents not to underestimate the potential danger and to have a plan for Tuesday evening if there are more floods.

“So, we told people, take this seriously, this isn’t like your casual floods that you’ve seen in the past. This is the most rain many of these areas have seen in a lifetime,” Wheeler said.

He encouraged residents to listen for flood alert sirens and stay vigilant of any flooding even if it is not yet at the door. He cautioned the water can rise quickly. He also advised to not cross any streams and instead call for a water rescue.

Wheeler said before they can start cleaning up and assessing damage, they are putting resources towards preparedness for another possible heavy rainfall.

West Virginia’s National Guard’s Edwin “Bo” Wriston said they are reaching out to see if they are needed for immediate help but are not doing damage assessments at this time.

Wriston said they are waiting to see what the storm front brings and if the governor calls them back into action.  

McDowell County Under State of Emergency, Several Southern Schools Close Amid Flash Flooding

Update 2/6/20 8:34 p.m.:

 

Rainfall across the southern part of West Virginia has led to multiple road closures, and at least one community in Raleigh County has been evacuated. 

According to a press release from the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, McDowell and Raleigh counties are reporting the most serious impact from Thursday’s rainfall.

McDowell County has declared a State of Emergency and water continues to rise in the War and Coalwood areas. An Emergency Operations Center has been established in Welch to coordinate rescue efforts and aid to residents. The West Virginia  National Guard has dispatched two high water vehicles to McDowell County and maintains coordination with DHSEM for any resource requests. Swift Water Rescue Teams are on standby for quick deployment.

In Raleigh County, Violet Street in Beaver was evacuated due to high water and runoff in roads and around homes. The access road to the Raleigh Center in Daniels washed out and residents are sheltering in place. The Center can be accessed by foot and a contractor is creating another access road.

Fayette and Greenbrier counties report localized flooding and some roads impassable due to high water. Monroe, Summers and Wyoming counties report nuisance flooding but require no assistance.

The Department of Transportation reports many roads in the southern counties remain closed due to high water or mudslides. 

 

According to the National Weather Service, flooding will continue along creeks and streams in southern West Virginia. There will be some flooding along the Tug Fork and Bluestone Rivers, and notable rises along Guyandotte and New Rivers. Most rivers are predicted to crest tonight into Friday. Rain will begin changing to snow across the state overnight and may impact the morning commute, especially in the mountainous areas and northern counties. There is a slight chance for higher snowfall with this system. Please continue to monitor weather updates for your area.

Governor Jim Justice has directed the state Emergency Operations Center to remain at partial activation status, which means emergency responders are monitoring flooded areas and coordinating response efforts across multiple state agencies and local jurisdictions.

 
Updated 2/06/20 4:25 p.m.

Heavy rain is leading to high waters across the southern region of the state, and several side roads have become impassable. McDowell emergency management leaders issued a local state of emergency this morning. Officials say the Red Cross is on site at the local emergency operations center in Welch, and the West Virginia National Guard is sending a heavy duty vehicle to assist.

The department of natural resources has also dispatched a swift water boat to Welch to work alongside the Sherriff’s office in case the high waters get worse and people need to be evacuated from their homes.

The Department of Transportation says eastbound traffic at the Interstate 64 bridge over the Kanawha River near Nitro was rerouted Thursday as crews assessed the damage to a failed expansion joint and made plans for repairs.  The eastbound side of the bridge will be closed until at least Friday morning.

Original Story:

McDowell County leaders issued a local state of emergency Thursday morning, freeing up state resources for local emergency management officials to use as they address flooding.

On Thursday morning, spokeswoman Lora Lipscomb for the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said a couple state officials were on the way to McDowell County to help facilitate local responses. Should McDowell County request it, the West Virginia National Guard will also send assistance.

As of 11 a.m. Lipscomb said she was not aware of any other counties issuing their own state of emergency. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming counties on Thursday. 

The NWS issues flood warnings for areas where hazardous weather conditions are active or imminent. The agency also issued a flood watch, meaning conditions are possible, for Boone, Clay, Fayette, Greenbrier, Kanawha, Logan, Mercer, Monroe, Nicholas and Raleigh counties.

Schools in Clay, Greenbrier, Hampshire, McDowell, Mercer, Monroe, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming announced early closures as of Thursday morning at 11 a.m., according to the West Virginia Department of Education’s website.

Gov. Jim Justice called on the state to partially activate its State Emergency Operations Center on Thursday. That includes the West Virginia Division of Highways, the West Virginia Intelligence Fusion Center, the West Virginia National Guard, the Red Cross and the National Weather Service.

Emily Allen is a Report for America corps member.

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