‘Mother Nature at its worst:’ Death toll from flash floods climbs to 6 in West Virginia
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) — The death toll from weekend flooding in West Virginia rose to six as residents tried to clean up with the threat of more rain on the way.
At least two people remained missing in the state’s northern panhandle after torrential downpours tore through the region Saturday night, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said Monday. As much as 4 inches (10 centimeters) of rain fell in parts of Wheeling and Ohio County within 40 minutes. Among the six dead was a 3-year-old child, the governor said.
About an hour to the southeast, heavy rains battered the Marion County community of Fairmont on Sunday, ripping off the outer wall of an apartment building and damaging bridges and roads. No injuries were reported.
Morrisey has declared a state of emergency in both counties. He said at least 60 homes, 25 businesses and an estimated 30 roads were impacted by the floods.
“It’s just Mother Nature at its worst,” Morrisey said.
In the northern panhandle, vehicles were swept into swollen creeks, some people sought safety in trees and a mobile home caught fire. Morrisey toured the small community of Triadelphia on Sunday.
“That was just pure devastation,” he said. “That was brutal.”
Rich Templin, his wife, Michelle, and a family friend, Chuck Ullom, were cleaning out two storage garages Monday across the street from their Triadelphia home. The garages on lower ground along Little Wheeling Creek were nearly destroyed by flash floods. Templin’s home is on elevated ground and was not damaged.
Templin was at work when his wife called him. When he did not answer, she texted him to say their street was flooded, a trailer they owned had washed away and that “cars were floating by with people in them.”
Templin said he received the text messages within 15 minutes after it started to rain.
“I’ve talked to numerous people, they said it was like a tsunami. They saw water coming down the road like two or three feet high,” he said.
Templin used the garages to store tools used in a trucking service company formerly operated by his father.
“We’re trying to see what’s salvageable and what’s not and just start the rebuilding process,” he said.
Most of West Virginia was under a flood watch through Monday night.
The region around Wheeling, about an hour southwest of Pittsburgh, has seen its share of flooding.
Saturday’s floods occurred 35 years to the day after more than 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain in less than three hours killed 26 people and destroyed 80 homes in nearby Shadyside, Ohio.
Last year, severe storms washed out about 200 tombstones at a Wheeling cemetery. There were deadly floods in the region in 2017 and 2022. And in 2004, the remnants of Hurricane Ivan sent floodwaters to the tops of lamp posts and trees in Wheeling’s park and amphitheater along the Ohio River.
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Associated Press writer John Raby in Charleston contributed.