Flood Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

The Sistersville Ferry And Keeping Listeners Connected, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, crossing a river by ferry can be a special experience, and hard to come by. On the Ohio River, a retiring ferry captain passes the torch to his deck hand. And Hurricane Helene destroyed roads and knocked out power and cell service across western North Carolina. But there was still a way to keep people in touch.

Crossing a river by ferry can be a special experience, and hard to come by. On the Ohio River, a retiring ferry captain passes the torch to his deck hand.

And Hurricane Helene destroyed roads and knocked out power and cell service across western North Carolina. But there was still a way to keep people in touch.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Raising Up A New Riverboat Captain
Blue Ridge Public Broadcasting Crucial During Flood
Loose Cattle And Tammy Fay With Michael Cerveris
Columbus Washboard Company Produces Instruments Aimed To Meet Musicians’ Needs

Raising Up A New Riverboat Captain

The Sistersville Ferry has been serving its Ohio River for over 200 years.

*Photo Credit: Zack Harold/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

The town of Sistersville, West Virginia is home to the last ferry crossing in the Mountain State. The Sistersville Ferry has been serving this tiny Tyler County community for more than 200 years, and when it reopens next spring, there will be a new pilot at the helm.

Reporter Zack Harold stopped by to witness the last ride of Captain Bo Hause.

Blue Ridge Public Broadcasting Crucial During Flood

Flooding caused by Hurricane Helene has devastated communities across western North Carolina and east Tennessee.

*Courtesy Photo*

If you’re in an area that’s struck by a disaster, how do you get information? Especially if power and cell service has been knocked out? You might have to use an old-fashioned technology — the radio. Portable radios work on batteries, and don’t depend on the internet or cell reception.

When Hurricane Helene struck western North Carolina, our partner station, Blue Ridge Public Radio, became a crucial source of information. A few weeks after the storm, Mason Adams spoke with BPR’s News Director, Laura Lee.

Loose Cattle And Tammy Fay With Michael Cerveris

Tony Award winning actor Michael Cerveris (center, in blue) stays busy. The former Huntington resident had a new show on Broadway and a new record with his Americana band, Loose Cattle.

*Photo Credit: King Edward Photography*

Tony Award-winning actor Michael Cerveris grew up in Huntington. Most recently, he was on stage in the musical “Tammy Fay,” which just left Broadway, but he’s better known for his starring roles in Sweeney Todd and the Broadway adaptation of The Who’s Tommy. He’s currently on HBO’s The Guilded Age, but his Americana band Loose Cattle has a new album.

Back in October, Producer Bill Lynch spoke to Cerveris.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Sierra Ferrell, John Hartford, Tim Bing, Jeff Ellis and Loose Cattle.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from folkways editor Nicole Musgrave.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

West Virginia Folk Musician Fundraises For Western North Carolina With 2016 Flood Song

Out of disaster, sometimes comes a song. In 2016, torrential rains resulted in one of the deadliest floods in West Virginia, destroying homes in White Sulphur Springs. The event and its aftermath inspired musician Chris Haddox to write “O’ This River.” Now the song has new purpose. Haddox recently used it to raise money for people in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.

Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporter Connie Bailey Kitts spoke with Haddox about the story behind the song.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Connie Kitts: Chris, could you introduce yourself?

Chris Haddox: My name is Chris Haddox, and I live in Morgantown, West Virginia. I’m a professor at West Virginia University in the College of Creative Arts and Media and the School of Art and Design. I earn my living through my “professorly” work, but music’s been the constant in my life since I was a kid.

Kitts: Your song “O’ This River” came out of the 2016 flood that hit White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Can you tell us what happened and about your connection to that event?

Haddox: I attend the Presbyterian Church here in Morgantown, and I got a call – somebody at the presbytery office in Charleston. They were looking for musicians to go to White Sulphur Springs. They said, “You know, there’s a lot of people there cleaning up and providing food. Would you be interested in going to just play music? Then maybe that’ll take people’s minds off things for a while.”

There was a big tent that was a central staging area for meals and communications and that sort of thing, and we sat under there and played, and people seemed to enjoy it.

One of the times I was sitting under the big tent, there was a woman sitting there by herself, kind of staring off. And I thought, well, I’m going to go over – she looks distraught, and I’m just going to go sit beside her and chat with her if she wants to chat.

She just started talking, and not really talking directly to me, but just kind of talking in my direction, saying, “You know, I don’t think I can do this again.” She said, “I’ve lived here all my life, and I love living by this river. It’s such a beautiful thing to be by, and when it gets like this, you know, I just don’t think I can live through another flood.”

And so I was just thinking about all that as I was riding home, and the song kind of came out of that conversation.

Chris Haddox performs “O’ This River” at the People’s Bank Theatre in Marietta, Ohio.
“Ain’t I standin’ here like before/ The river’s in my blood/ If you’ve never lived here you can never understand.” *Courtesy Chris Haddox.*

“Ain’t I standin’ here like before/ The river’s in my blood/ If you’ve never lived here you can never understand.” – Courtesy Chris Haddox.

Kitts: Fast forward to today, after Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina, why did you decide to use this song as a fundraiser?

Haddox: I think we all, when we see something like that, our first reaction, as a species, is generally: what can I do to help? I woke up one morning, and that song was running through my head. And as I said in my little fundraising [post], “Can a song born of a flood help raise money for relief from another flood?” That was the idea that was floating through my head. So I just thought, “Well, I’ll donate it. You can buy the song for whatever” – I set a dollar minimum on it, and some people paid a dollar, some people paid $100, so that’s how it came about.

Using Facebook and Bandcamp, Haddox initially raised $2000 in a week’s time. *Courtesy Chris Haddox.*

Kitts: Your music has these interesting connections to personal and community disasters – both the White Sulfur Springs flood and now the devastation that’s been caused by Hurricane Helene. What role do you think music can play during events like these?

Haddox: There’s a whole genre of disaster songs. Some of them are just a telling of a story, and in others, they’re really kind of tugging at the emotions in it. Maybe at some level, it helps just process what’s going on, to hear it coming back at you. You’re not just reliving it in your head. You’re hearing somebody else sing it.

And I think it has the opportunity to validate what you’re feeling as a person who maybe has gone through that and has experienced that trauma, to hear it out there, that you think, “Wow, it’s not just me that’s feeling this or thinking this.” It just seemed like maybe that’s what this song’s purpose was, to have some bigger impact than just being a song I sing in a show.

Four months after Haddox appeared on stage at the Southeast Regional Folk Alliance festival in Black Mountain, North Carolina, Hurricane Helene tore through the conference location, where recovery efforts are ongoing. *Courtesy Chris Haddox.*

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At the time of this posting, Haddox had raised more than $2200 for the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance fund, dedicated to helping rural parts of North Carolina.

For more about Haddox, visit his website, Facebook or Instagram.

Music Raises Funds For Flood Relief And Our Song Of The Week, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, a song inspired by the 2016 West Virginia floods is helping raise funds for those effected by Hurricane Helene, and our Song of the Week.

On this West Virginia Morning, deadly floods in West Virginia in 2016 inspired songwriter Chris Haddox to write “O, This River.” From the latest episode of Inside Appalachia, Haddox has been using the song to raise funds for those effected by the floods by Hurricane Helene.

And singer-songwriter Nellie McKay brought her eclectic style to the Mountain Stage last December. From her album “Hey Guys, Watch This,” McKay’s track titled “Drinking Song” is our Song of the Week.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caelan Bailey, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker, Liz McCormick, Maria Young and Randy Yohe.

Eric Douglas is our news director. Teresa Wills is our host. Maria Young produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

EJ Henderson After The Flood And “Little Seed,” Inside Appalachia

After Helene, an Asheville guitar maker grapples with how to help her neighborhood when there’s so much need.

A church in West Virginia is helping turn unwanted guns into garden tools.

And, for writer Wei Tchou, it took leaving her home in East Tennessee to start seeing herself in a new way.

In This Episode

Catching Up With Luthier Jayne Henderson After The Flood
Gun And Garden
A Study Of Identity And Ferns In “Little Seed”

Catching Up With Luthier Jayne Henderson After The Flood

Elizabeth ‘Jayne’ Henderson in her workshop in Asheville, North Carolina before Hurricane Helene.

Credit: Janie Witte

Earlier this year, we visited the workshop of renowned guitar-maker Wayne Henderson, for a story about him and his daughter, Jayne Henderson.

Jayne lives in Asheville, North Carolina, and Wayne lives in Rugby, Virginia. Both places were wrecked by Hurricane Helene. Folkways reporter Margaret McLeod Leef caught up with Jayne in the days following the storm.

Gun And Garden

Outside the Shepherdstown Fire Department, Craig Snyder runs a firearm through a power tool, dismantling it.
Photo Jack Walker.

Sometimes when people die, they leave behind guns, and their relatives don’t always know what to do with them. So a church in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle is providing a way to dispose of old firearms – and find new uses for them. WVPB’s Jack Walker reported.

A Study Of Identity And Ferns In “Little Seed”

Author Wei Tchou explores nature and personal identity in her book, “Little Seed.”
Courtesy photo.

The book “Little Seed” by Wei Tchou (CHEW) is a hybrid of nature writing and memoir. Tchou’s parents migrated from China and raised her in eastern Tennessee. The book’s chapters alternate between stories of her passage into adulthood, and descriptions of ferns and closely related plants. Mason Adams spoke with Tchou several weeks before Hurricane Helene.

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Amethyst Kiah, Wayne Henderson, Jane Kramer, Gerry Milnes, Steve Earle, John Blissard and Blue Dot Sessions.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. You can find us on Instagram @InAppalachia.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Ropecraft, Mutual Aid After The Storm And River Surfing, Inside Appalachia

Rock climbing gear eventually wears out, but it can still live on as art.

Also, the response to Hurricane Helene shows us some of the best in people. Neighbors are helping neighbors.

And surfing in West Virginia. Yeah, that’s a real a thing.

In This Episode:

Crafter Turns Climbing Gear Into Cozy Crafts
Neighbors Helping Neighbors After Flooding
Surf’s Up On The Gauley River

Crafter Turns Climbing Gear Into Cozy Crafts

Climbing rope is meant to last, but eventually wears out.

Outdoor gear can last a long time, but it wears out. Most of it, you have to throw away.

In western North Carolina, though, there’s a climber-turned-crafter who keeps old climbing gear out of the landfill and turns it into art. Folkways reporter Emily Chen-Newton had this story.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors After Flooding

Flooding caused by Hurricane Helene has devastated communities across western North Carolina and east Tennessee.

Recovery efforts in western North Carolina continue. After the storm, neighbors jumped in to help each other before government officials and outside help could arrive. They’re still holding each other up. Blue Ridge Public Radio’s Gerard Albert III, reported.

Surf’s Up On The Gauley River

Part of the journey to the river includes crossing a tall, narrow old railroad bridge that crosses the river. Briana Heaney/ West Virginia Public Broadcasting

You wouldn’t think so, but yes, you can surf in landlocked West Virginia. During the Gauley river’s rafting season, surf’s up –at least for a while. WVPB’s Briana Heaney had more.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Christian Lopez, Caleb Caudle, Steve Earle, Sierra Ferrell, Appalachian Road Show and Blue Dot Sessions…

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Final Week To Apply For Federal Aid Over April Storms, Floods

Renters and homeowners have just over one week to apply for aid from the federal government over storms and flooding that struck West Virginia in early April.

Renters and homeowners have just over one week to apply for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) over storms and flooding that struck West Virginia on April 11 and 12.

FEMA can help fund basic needs and repair projects spurred by storm damage in Boone, Hancock, Kanawha, Marshall, Ohio, Roane, Wetzel and Wood counties. The funds cannot apply to repairs already covered by insurance.

Residents of Brooke, Doddridge, Gilmer, Lincoln and Tyler counties may also be eligible for public assistance on the state or local level.

President Joe Biden approved FEMA’s disaster declaration for the storms in May, opening affected West Virginia regions to federal aid. Applications for the current round of aid to West Virginia were initially due in September, but the agency extended its deadline to Nov. 2.

This year, FEMA announced it streamlined its disaster aid application process, removing some application requirements.

West Virginia residents may also be eligible for financial support from the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). However, loan offers may be delayed “due to a lapse in congressional funding,” according to the SBA website.

Property and business owners from counties affected by the storm can apply for low-interest disaster relief loans from the SBA to offset financial losses. The deadline to apply for these loans is also Nov. 2.

Individuals seeking FEMA aid can apply online, or over the phone at 1-800-621-3362. For more information on eligibility and financial aid for the April storms, visit the agency’s website.

Individuals interested in applying for SBA loans can also do so online. For more information, residents can also contact the SBA over the phone at 1-800-659-2955, or over email at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.