June 23 Flood Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

High School Band Brings Hope Back to Richwood

Several communities in West Virginia were devastated during the 1,000 Year Flood that hit June 2016. Many families lost everything – their homes, their belongings, their livelihoods. Some of those communities even lost their school buildings.

The West Virginia Department of Education reported 27 public school buildings suffered flood damage, and five were closed.

The school board in Nicholas County plans to consolidate several schools including Richwood Middle and Richwood High School. The plan has been met with passionate opposition from residents.

Despite the debate about consolidation, the 2017 school year came and went. West Virginia Public Broadcasting recently visited the town of Richwood to see what this past year was like for both students and the community.

For the 2016-2017 school year, the students at Richwood Middle and High School attended classes at temporary locations.

Richwood High students spent the year at former Beaver Elementary School in Craigsville – almost a 30-minute drive away.

Recent graduate Kendra Amick says it was disheartening to learn she wouldn’t be in her old building for her senior year.

“It was hard,” Amick said, “I mean, when they told me over the summer that the school was flooded and that we weren’t going to be going back there, it was really heartbreaking, and I don’t think any of us really believed it, but being thrown in Beaver was kind of rough. The teachers made sure that it was more like a home environment, but I know all of us would just much rather be back up at Richwood and where we all belong.”

Despite the change of location, Amick remained committed to her high school band, also known as the Lumberjack Express. The band had to scavenge for places to practice throughout the year. But when it came time for the annual festivals and parades, there was no doubt the community could rely on the Lumberjack Express to show up.

Amick performed in the marching band for the last time during this year’s spring concert.

“The community of Richwood really loves the band,” Amick noted, “That’s one of the cornerstones of our town is seeing us march down every fall in orange, and we always have an annual Christmas concert as well as a spring concert, so to get the community back together, rain or shine today, it’s really nice to see everyone come out, get to hear the band, and have a little bit of hope.”

The Lumberjack Express is a staple of the town, says Richwood Middle School Principal Gene Collins.

“It’s not just the high school’s band, it is the community’s band,” he said.

Collins says the Lumberjack Express played a big role in helping students and the community to cope with the change. While traditions had to be compromised and the stability of the community was disrupted, the Lumberjack Express provided a familiar tone that helped the town hold onto its identity … and perhaps hold onto the spirit of Richwood.

“Everything we do, we have a huge turnout,” Collins said, “We have so much support. People are trying to make sure that we survive, and let’s face it, in the mountains, that’s what everything is about. It is about survival. They want the best for their kids, but we’re also fighting for our culture to survive.”

That community spirit and school pride shined bright across the state this past year. In fact, Herbert Hoover High School was another building that was closed after the flood. Despite not having a home gym, the Huskies made it to the state high school basketball tournament for the first time ever.

Report: W.Va. is Prepared for Public Health Emergencies

West Virginia is prepared for public health emergencies. That’s according to a report out Thursday.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says in the 2017 National Health Security Preparedness Index, West Virginia scored 6.7 out of 10 in the state’s capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from health risk emergencies. That’s about the national average for preparedness.

Glen Mays is a professor of Health Policy at the University of Kentucky, and he’s been involved in the preparedness index over the past two years. He says West Virginia has been making big improvements – mostly in Community Planning and Engagement for a public health crisis.

“There we measure the strength of communication relationships and coordination mechanisms between government and private sector and community organizations that need to play a role in health security,” Mays said.

He says the June 2016 floods that killed 23 people and left thousands homeless may have caused this sharp uptick in health security preparedness in West Virginia.

But where the state still struggles to keep up with the rest of the nation is in the areas of Health Security Surveillance, being able to detect health hazards quickly, and in Incident and Information Management, or the ability to respond rapidly to crises.

Mays says this is due, in part, to the state’s rural geography, and he says both of those areas require specific resources and state-of-the-art technology.

“West Virginia may need to take a look at its existing technology and infrastructure and see whether there’s some unmet needs there,” he noted, “There may be investments that need to be made and upgrading technology and systems to support those kind of activities.”

By having its strong foundation in Community Planning and Engagement, however, Mays says the state is on the right track for further improvement.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation, Charleston Area Medical Center and WVU Medicine.

Judge: Consolidation Plan May Go On; Schools Can't Be Razed

A Nicholas County judge has declined to immediately stop the controversial plan to consolidate five Nicholas County public schools into two schools that share a single campus following a flood last year.

Judge James Rowe on Thursday denied a preliminary injunction that had been requested by supporters of rebuilding Richwood’s flood-damaged schools in the Richwood area instead of consolidating them into a single campus near Summersville.

Rowe did, however, agree to an injunction blocking the immediate demolition of Richwood Middle and High School.

The judge scheduled a May 10 hearing after which he still may rule to stop the consolidation based on the lawsuit’s allegations that the Nicholas board violated open meetings laws before voting in favor of the plan Tuesday.

Superintendent Donna Burge-Tetrick denies the allegations.

Deadly Floods Voted Top News Story of 2016 in West Virginia

A National Weather Service meteorologist called it a “1-in-1,000-year” storm. By the time it was over, 23 West Virginians were dead.

Flooding that ravaged the state in late June was voted the No. 1 news story in 2016 in West Virginia by Associated Press member newspapers and broadcasters.

The sentencing of former Massey CEO Don Blankenship and his subsequent appeal was voted second, and the state’s substance abuse epidemic was third.

The floods destroyed or damaged thousands of homes, businesses, roads and bridges; prompted a massive response from volunteers and organizations; and dominated headlines for months. President Barack Obama issued a disaster declaration for a dozen counties.

“The June 2016 floods were a natural disaster of the magnitude that many West Virginians had never witnessed before,” said Lauren McGill, metro editor at The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington. “The number of deaths and the extent of the destruction caused by the flooding shocked the entire state, and will not be soon forgotten.”

Leslie Rubin, a reporter at WCHS-TV in Charleston, said the flooding “was something unlike anything I had ever seen. There were countless stories of hope and help that showed what it really means to be a West Virginian. On the other end of that, it is still painful to see the effects of the flood that will forever leave a mark on our state.”

West Virginia’s ongoing struggles with substance abuse also received votes.

But the story line finished just shy of overtaking Blankenship, who is serving a one-year sentence after being convicted of misdemeanor conspiracy for what prosecutors called a series of willful safety violations before the 2010 Upper Big Branch mine explosion that killed 29 men. Before his appeal was heard in October, Blankenship released a manifesto from prison declaring himself a political prisoner.

Among the substance abuse stories this year included the heroin overdoses of more than two dozen people in a five-hour span in Huntington in August. Two people died. Elected leaders, communities, and health- and faith-based groups are seeking ways to end the scourge of drug addiction.

“The substance abuse issue is one that impacts every state resident, in every county and from every demographic category,” said John McCabe, managing editor of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register. “It’s ripping families apart, leaving children to be raised by grandparents, or, worse, in the foster care system. This is one of our defining issues at this time, and as a community, we need to tackle it head-on.”

Rounding out West Virginia’s top 10 stories were:

— Greenbrier resort owner Jim Justice, a Democrat, is elected governor over Republican Bill Cole.

— West Virginia voters overwhelmingly choose Republican Donald Trump for president over Hillary Clinton. Trump’s win nationally gives hope to coal communities that have seen economic downturns in recent decades.

— A January blizzard dumps 42 inches of snow in parts of West Virginia.

— Mylan CEO Heather Bresch, daughter of Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, is grilled on Capitol Hill about the sky-high price of lifesaving EpiPens and the profits for her company.

— After months of stalled negotiations on balancing the state budget, lawmakers in mid-June opt to bank on higher taxes on cigarettes, e-cigarettes and other tobacco products to raise about $98 million a year.

— Buoyed by Trump’s popularity, Republicans maintain their control of West Virginia’s Legislature, while the GOP wins four of the six statewide offices.

— Coal companies including Alpha Natural Resources and Blackhawk Mining announce the additional layoffs of hundreds of miners in West Virginia as the industry’s downtown continues.

West Virginia Gets $5M for Flood Recovery Case Managers

West Virginia officials say the state has been awarded a $5 million federal grant to put case managers in each county hurt by flooding in June and help flood victims with remaining unmet needs.

According to the governor’s office, the Federal Emergency Management Agency funding is for assessing and verifying those needs and outlining steps necessary for recovery.

The casework process will include assessments, coordinating information about resources, developing individual recovery plans and monitoring progress.

Jimmy Gianato, state director of emergency management, says they’ll work to ensure people get needed help and that there’s no duplication of benefits.

Carol Holmes Explains Why She's 'West Virginia Tough' in Richwood

Seventy-five-year-old Carol Holmes lives in Nicholas County, one of the counties hit hardest by the downpours that fell on June 23. Several people have died because of the severe weather. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin called the floods “the worst in a century for some parts of the state.” The Associated Press reports that President Obama spoke to Tomblin by phone Saturday to offer federal assistance and condolences to the people of West Virginia.

This is the second time her home has been flooded in the past 20 years. Listen to her explain why she doesn’t want to leave Richwood. She also explains that tough times are nothing new to her family. She also explains why she’s “West Virginia tough.”