Virginia-West Virginia border Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Crews Still Searching For 3 People After Virginia Flooding

First responders in Buchanan County began receiving reports of rising water and damage Tuesday night after a torrential rainstorm in the mountainous area. Several small communities in the Virginia county that borders West Virginia and Kentucky were affected.

Authorities in a remote corner of southwest Virginia have located all but three of the 44 people who were reported unaccounted for after devastating flooding washed out roadways and damaged more than 100 homes.

Buchanan County Sheriff John McClanahan said Thursday that crews from state and local agencies worked throughout the night to locate and reunite residents with their loved ones. He said there are no reports of injuries or deaths.

County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Eric Breeding said Wednesday that the number of people unaccounted for is based on relatives trying to contact a resident in an area where there may be limited or no phone service.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are in trouble or in danger. They’re just letting us know that we need to check on these people,” Breeding told reporters.

McClanahan said Thursday that the floodwaters are receding and the county is working with the Virginia Department of Transportation crews to assess damages to homes and to remove debris and mud from the roadways to get them re-opened.

Residents said they were stunned by dramatic flooding that caused mudslides that blocked roads and washed homes off foundations.

“We gathered at my house and we said if it got any higher that, we were just going to start heading up in the mountains to try to get safe, but luckily, thank God, we didn’t have to,” Deana Kimbrough told WCYB-TV.

Seth Owens told the station he was among people who sought refuge at a post office and witnessed houses washing away.

“The next thing you know, the house is floating on down through there. … Two of the houses washed off,” he said.

In Whitewood, an unincorporated community with a population of about 500, mud left from the flooding was 1 to 2 feet deep in some places. At least one bridge had collapsed, and one home appeared to have been pulled from its foundation and carried across the street, where it was perched on top of a car Thursday morning.

W.Va. Gas Prices See Extreme Highs And Lows

WVPB spoke with some state petroleum and retail experts on the polarity in what you’re paying at the pump.

PresidentBiden has called on Congress tosuspend the 18 cents a gallon federal gasoline and 24 cents a gallon diesel fuel taxes for the next 90 days.

In West Virginia, gasoline prices are seeing extreme highs and lows. WVPB spoke with some state petroleum and retail experts on the polarity in what you’re paying at the pump.

Why the big disparity in West Virginia gas prices? Over the past week or so, gas in Charleston and Huntington has hovered around $4.99 a gallon. But in southern, rural Athens, West Virginia, gas was 30 cents a gallon less. It was 20 cents cheaper in Princeton and in the Lewisburg area, $4.43 a gallon – 56 cents cheaper than in the state’s Capital.

On Wednesday in Shepherdstown, near the Maryland border, gas was $4.25 a gallon.

The experts blame a number of factors.

Traci Nelson, president of the West Virginia Oil Marketers and Grocers Association said the cost of living is higher in urban areas and gas prices often follow suit. She said cities like Princeton, Lewisburg and Shepherdstown – closer to the Virginia border where the gas tax is lower, or Maryland, which instituted a gas tax holiday – are competing with out-of-state-retailers.

“It hurts the West Virginia economy because if they cross that border to buy their gasoline, they’re going to make one trip,” Nelson said. “They may be buying their tobacco products and they’re going to be buying their groceries in some cases.”

Patrick De Haan is a petroleum analyst with GasBuddy, a fuel savings app. He said there’s been an incredible amount of volatility in the wholesale price of gasoline itself.

“Stations that may be more rural could be buying gasoline that’s two weeks old, and they paid a much higher or lower price,” DeHaan said. “Rural areas may also have lower overhead costs, lower costs of personnel. The cost of labor could be lower, property taxes lower and the cost of operating a business in rural America generally is lower. And so that factors into what a station charges as well.”

Lynda Lambert, media spokesperson for AAA’s East Central region said West Virginia is paying some of the lowest prices in the country right now.

“In California they’re paying almost $7 a gallon,” Lambert said. “In New York and Pennsylvania, states where there’s more population and higher taxes, those people are paying more. The national average today is $4.96; this time last year, it was $3.07. In West Virginia today, it’s $4.93; last year it was $3.”

West Virginia gas retailer Nelson said high gas prices have more drivers just filling up without coming in the store.

“I don’t know if they’re using credit cards, if that’s making the difference,” Nelson said. “People are still coming in the store a little bit, but maybe not as much as they were.”

AAA’s Lambert said in- and out-of-state tourists are still driving to WV vacation spots

“It’s an expense that Americans value,” Lambert said. “They treasure getting out there and enjoying those summer vacations making memories with family and friends. So if they can, people will most likely cut back in other areas so that they have the money to spend on that summer vacation.”

Lambert said with gas price volatility, she doesn’t know how long that traveling value may last.

Minimal Damage from Fire in Tunnel Along W.Va.-Va. Border

Officials say a Christmas night fire caused minimal damage to an Interstate 77 tunnel along the Virginia-West Virginia border.

The Virginia Department of Transportation says all lanes of the East River Mountain Tunnel were opened at 12:38 a.m. Friday morning following a vehicle fire in the southbound lane of the tunnel.

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports that officials will have to do some small pavement and tile repairs in the coming days.

Emergency officials say Bluefield and Green Valley-Glenwood fire departments in West Virginia and Bland and Rocky Gap fire departments in Virginia responded to the blaze.

The West Virginia State Police, Virginia State Police, Mercer County Sheriff’s Department, Virginia Department of Transportation, West Virginia Department of Transportation and Mercer County Emergency Management also responded to the scene.