Mudslide Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Flooded Communities Face Uncertainty With More Rain On The Way

Flooding throughout the day Monday caused significant damage to roads, houses and bridges in central and southern West Virginia. There have been no deaths reported so far due to flooding. Officials are still working to assess damage. Many houses were flooded, and some were washed away.

Updated on Monday, Aug. 28, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.

Flooding throughout the day caused significant damage to roads, houses and bridges in central and southern West Virginia.

There have been no deaths reported so far due to flooding. Officials are still working to assess damage. Many houses were flooded and some were washed away.

Communities along Witcher Creek, Slaughter Creek and Fields Creek saw some of the most significant flooding. Waters have retreated back to creeks and rivers — where flows remain dangerously high. However, with more rain likely this evening and tomorrow, flood advisories remain active.

The National Weather Service said another inch of rain could be on the way Monday night.

Kanawha County Commissioner Lance Wheeler was at the Emergency Operations Center at Kanawha County Metro 911. He said fire departments in Charleston and Fayette and Cabell counties are waiting to see what the weather does, and where the water goes.

“Everybody’s still on standby. They are looking at what water is coming and what it’s going to look like and if there are going to be more evacuations necessary,” said Wheeler.

Wheeler said this amount of rainfall — 6-9 inches in affected areas — coupled with already saturated soil from a rainy weekend made the floods an especially dangerous situation.

“So, the flooding has been enormous at this point,” he said. “If there’s anyone out there who thinks that this is just a small flood that hit this area, they’re drastically wrong.”

Kanawha County officials say that from 6:45 a.m., when the Kanawha County Metro 911 started receiving calls, until 4 p.m., there were more than 700 calls and 22 water rescues. Assessors have not released official numbers, but Wheeler said that around 60 homes were washed away in the floods.

Jenna Sigmon lives along one of the most heavily flooded creeks, Slaughter Creek, and said she is used to floods, but this one is one of the worst she has ever seen.

“It was like kind of crazy, because we just woke up this morning and there was massive floods,” she said. “And the water came up over the bank all into our yard.”

Her house was flooded. Sigmon went over to a neighbor’s house across the road to get away from the water, but the water ended up crossing the street over to that house as well.

“It just kept rising and rising. Like two feet within ten minutes,” said Sigmon.

The water did eventually recede, but her yard and others around were bogged with water. She said she was expecting a flood, but not one this bad.

If you or anyone you know needs assistance escaping flooding, call 911 or (304) 348–8111 to reach the Metro 911 Emergency flood line.

Original Post: Flash Flood Emergency Declared In Several W.Va. Counties

The National Weather Service Monday issued a flash flood emergency for Kanawha County that is considered life threatening. It also issued flash flood warnings for parts of Braxton, Calhoun, Clay, and Roane counties. The National Weather Service says residents should seek higher ground and avoid flooded areas.

Gov. Jim Justice declared a State of Emergency in those counties. Heavy rainfall over the weekend and throughout Monday morning has caused flash floods that have damaged homes, roads, and bridges in affected areas. There are reports of high water along Witcher Creek in eastern Kanawha County.

The West Virginia Emergency Management Division has implemented an emergency plan to mobilize appropriate personnel and resources to respond to the emergency.

The National Guard is working to prepare for emergency dispatch with arial assets like helicopters, swift water rescues teams, and extra personnel. Kanawha County’s Emergency Operations Center is actively working to assist with water rescues and other emergency assistance.

The West Virginia Division of Highways is working to assist residents and clear the road from culverts, mudslides, and other damage from heavy rains throughout affected counties. Mudslides closed both lanes of US 60 in Belle and on the West Virginia Turnpike near Chelyan at Mile Marker 85.5 where the southbound right lane is closed.

FEMA, local officials, and other organizations are also working to offer aid to residents needing assistance.

Iaeger Rockslide Blocks Road for Five Days, Leaves Residents Trapped

Since Wednesday, a rockslide has covered a portion of Railroad Yard Road, blocking some residents in Iaeger from leaving their homes.

Updated Monday July 25th 3:30:

According to Iaeger Mayor Joe Ford, local coal operator, Eddie Asbury, is on the scene of the rockslide and is in the process of removing the debris.

Original Story:

McDowell County resident, Deedra Blevins, says she plans to climb boulders Saturday evening so she can bring supplies to her 70-year-old mother, Dorothy Frost, who is one of those trapped behind the slide.

Heavy rains on Wednesday morning brought debris off the mountain, making it impossible for people to drive in or out of the area where Blevins’ mother lives.

“If my mother’s house would catch on fire, or if there was a medical emergency, there is no way to get her out,” Blevins said on Saturday.

According to Blevins, one of her mother’s neighbors who is also unable to get out is April Reed, who is 9 months pregnant.

Larry Messina, with W.Va. Dept. of Military Affairs & Public Safety, said in an email with West Virginia Public Broadcasting, “as this road is owned by the city and not the state, the Division of Highways has provided the mayor with the names of contractors. The Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management is checking on whether it has any technical advice to offer.”

McDowell County Commissioner Cecil Patterson says a local coal company has donated a front end loader to remove the rocks on Monday. “It will probably be myself and Commissioner McBride operating the front end loader. I don’t expect it to take too long.”

Patterson says by the end of the day Monday Railroad Yard Road should be clear.

Meanwhile, residents are waiting, and hoping no serious emergencies take place in the next few days.

Kentucky Regulators Fine Justice-owned Mine after Mudslide

Kentucky regulators have cited a company owned by coal operator Jim Justice for conditions that they say contributed to a mudslide and flooding that damaged six homes in Pike County.

Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet spokesman John Mura told The Courier-Journal regulators learned on Friday about the damages and sent investigators to the Bent Mountain surface mining operation.

The operation is part of Kentucky Fuel Corp., which is owned by Jim Justice, a billionaire coal producer running for governor as a Democrat in West Virginia.

Mura said violations on the citation issued Monday involve sediment control, off-permit disturbance, failure to notify, failure to pass water quality and a diversion ditch failure.

In a news release, Kentucky Fuel said it’s offering residents temporary housing, and providing large equipment and workers from nearby operations to help property owners with cleanup.

Removal of Slide Area at W.Va. Airport to Start Monday

Work is scheduled to begin Monday on removing part of a manmade hillside at Yeager Airport that collapsed earlier this year.

A Kanawha County judge’s ruling in a lawsuit cleared the way for the work to begin.

Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit ruled on Friday that material collected from the site must be stored in the same place. Tabit also said all parties involved in the lawsuit must be notified before any testing of the material is done.

A portion of the emergency over-run area at the end of the airport’s runway collapsed on March 12. Airport officials are suing companies involved with the over-run area’s design and construction.

Meanwhile, Yeager announced on Saturday that executive director Rick Atkinson will resign, effective Monday.

Mudslides, Floods, and Snowstorms- For New AmeriCorps Program, It's Been a Busy March

There are about 180 active AmeriCorps volunteers working in West Virginia. A new partnership between Volunteer West Virginia and the Red Cross is training many of these AmeriCorps to be ready to serve communities affected by disasters. Some of these volunteers have already been deployed in the last few weeks to assist residents affected by flooding and mudslides as part of a new statewide program called Disaster Corps.

The first week in March, homes in southern West Virginia were damaged, and people were displaced because of mudslides, snowstorms, and flooding. A Pocahontas County native, Shinaberry said that when the call came asking for volunteers to travel down to icy Mingo County, she said yes, even though she was apprehensive that she didn’t have enough carpentry skills.

“I have experience cause I grew up in a farming area, so I’m not new to hands on stuff. But I didn’t know what was going to be expected of me. I really don’t know how to build or repair anything.”

AmeriCorps members Torya Cummings, Jamielle Jackson, and Christin Shinaberry have signed up for a new program, called Disaster Corps

Thankfully, Shinaberry and her fellow AmeriCorps volunteers were working alongside other groups, like the American Baptist Men, who taught them how to do things like remove damaged drywall and carpets from homes that were affected by mudslides and flooding.

Another Disaster Corps volunteer, Jamielle Jackson, is originally from Detroit, where there is no shortage of need for assistance. But she says communities in Detroit are not used to the type of flooding people in southern West Virginia see.

Most of the Disaster Corps volunteers were involved with hands on work. But some of them, like Beckley native Torya Cummings, also helped with casework and getting folks set up with food, clothing and shelter.

“It was exciting and sad all at the same time to see the devastation that they have suffered, even the little things, like sliding your shoes on just walking out of the house, they had to leave without their shoes. And I mean, it’s like, minus 11 minus 10.”

Stephanie Yu is the executive director of Volunteer West Virginia, and she explains the Disaster Corps program came about partly in response to last year’s water crisis in Kanawha County, and the Derecho back in 2012. “There was sort of this idea that we needed to have this infrastructure so that when things like that happen we could have people ready to go.”

The Disaster Corps program is a partnership between Volunteer West Virginia and disaster response agencies, like the American Red Cross.

When there isn’t a disaster, these AmeriCorps continue to work on longer-term projects, like tutoring children or helping veterans. Torya Cummings admits leaving Mingo County after aiding in flood relief in the short term felt a little bit strange- almost like she was abandoning them.

“It was difficult leaving them and knowing I’m going home. and you have to stay here in this hotel, or you’re going to have to find family members that can take you in, or just totally rebuild. That’s got to be hard.”

A week after she returned from Mingo County, Cummings was deployed to Kanawha County to help residents displaced from the Yeager Airport Landslide. Some of those residents are still evacuated from their homes in the area directly affected by the slide, Keystone Drive, while others are in the process of deciding to stay in the area or sell their homes and move away.

Lawmakers Updated on Winter Storm Impacts

A special joint-session of the legislature was held in the House chamber Friday in response to the recent crises caused from this week’s storm. Officials wanted to explain Governor Tomblin’s State of Emergency declaration and to update lawmakers about current conditions and what they can tell their constituents affected by the storm.

Heavy rains began earlier this week that soon turned to heavy snow. Flooding and power outages have been huge problems in many parts of the state, and especially in some southern counties.

Peter Marcum, General Counsel to Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, reminded legislators of some of the different possibilities that could occur during a Governor’s declared State of Emergency. Marcum says the Governor may decide to evacuate residents, provide temporary housing, declare disaster zones, suspend the sale of alcohol or explosives, and may even close schools.

“It’s important that you look at each particular state of emergency declaration, because each emergency is unique, and the governor, the legislature, the local emergency service providers will be offering specific guidance to deal with the emergency,” Marcum said.

Last year, the legislature passed a governor’s bill that required a state of preparedness for emergencies and situations like the current winter storm.

Peter Marcum says this has allowed first responders to act quickly in light of this storm.

“Thanks to a governor’s bill that this body passed last year, we now have the power to declare a state of preparedness,” Marcum explained, “This enables the governor to exercise all of his emergency powers well in advance of an eminent emergency, so that we can marshal resources, put them in place in preparation of problems. It also allows us to warn the public, you need to be on high alert, because a severe winter storm’s coming.”

Major General James A. Hoyer with the West Virginia National Guard says the state of preparedness has helped to get a head start on the crisis.

“From the standpoint of my role and our responsibility as the National Guard, what you provided us last year with the state of preparedness; I think it’s important to understand the benefit to our ability to respond and to the National Guardsmen,” Hoyer said, “By allowing us to move in early, it allows us to put men and women in place ahead of time that makes the response more effective in the front end, which hopefully reduces the time and the cost on the backend.”

This morning in the 20^th district in Mingo County, there was a mudslide that left many residents trapped. Delegate Justin Marcum says he’s very concerned for his constituents in his home district.

“I’ve talked to county commissioner, John Mark Hubbard and Greg Kody Smith, they’re on the ground,” Delegate Marcum explained, “We’re working now to implement the National Guard. We’re trying to bring in other resources. I will praise our county commission; they’ve done a great job with these in the past and moving forward. We’re just praying for these individuals that are trapped with the mudslide. Yeah, we have around fifty people trapped; we have boats and dozers that will be going in. The issue is with the trap, where it’s trapped, the mudslide is coming in, the water is rising. Most places, the water’s receding, but we’ve got the water’s rising here, and that’s our main concern, so the evacuation process is ongoing. Luckily, praise God, we have no injuries at this point.”

Delegate Lynne Arvon of Raleigh County oversees the 31^st District, which has seen a lot of water outages in the last few days. She says her district has been declared a disaster area.

“The portion of Route 3 that is in my district, District 31, goes down Route 3 and to the Boone County line, has been declared a disaster area,” Arvon said, “We now have two deployments of the National Guard in that area, and they are able, people who are stuck in their homes and can’t get out, their roads have been washed out, whatever the cause may be, they can call the emergency services number, which I have put on my House of Delegate page, and the National Guard will be sent to get them. They will go on foot and get them, or deliver water or whatever needs they have.”

After the presentation, Speaker Tim Armstead reminded members as they deal with constituents’ troubles related to the storm, have them turn to local sources of assistance rather than going straight to the state to address their needs.

“I think it’s very important as my discussions with each of you is to just reiterate that when you have constituents that do have needs, whatever those needs are, I think you start with that local, rather than trying to go up to the state level immediately with, when they’re trying to, to get all these things handled from the various counties to go through your county originally is very important. And I know each of us have had, unfortunately flooding and other situations in our districts.” – House Speaker Tim Armstead

Governor Tombin’s State of Emergency continues with updates as weather and flooding in the state continue to be addressed.