Luke Skywalker
Super Moderator
{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:
xEmbed
xShare
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin says 14 people have died during devastating flooding in the state. AP
In this photo released by the The Weather Channel, a vehicle ends up in a stream after a heavy rain near White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., on June 24, 2016.(Photo: Chris Dorst, The Weather Channel via AP)
At least 18<span style="color: Red;">*</span>people, including an 8-year-old boy who was wading in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>foot of water,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>died in massive floods in West Virginia from a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>storm system that has dumped an historic amount of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>rain in parts of the state, state officials said Friday.
As much as 8-10 inches of rain fell in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>six to eight <span style="color: Red;">*</span>hours in parts of West Virginia, the National Weather Service said. This amount of rain in such a short time is likely a "one-in-a-thousand-year event," the weather service said.
It was the third-deadliest flood on record in West Virginia, according to the West Virginia state climatologist<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Kevin Law. Only the Buffalo Creek flood in 1972 (when 125 died after a dam break) and a November 1985 flood (when 38 died from a combination of Hurricane Juan's remnants and another storm) killed more in the state, Law<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin told<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reporters Friday that damage is widespread and devastating. Saying search and rescue missions are still a top priority, Tomblin issued<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a state of emergency<span style="color: Red;">*</span>for 44 counties and deployed 150 members of the National Guard<span style="color: Red;">*</span>to help<span style="color: Red;">*</span>emergency responders.
Tomblin's chief of staff, Chris Stadelman, said 14 deaths had been confirmed by the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>state medical examiner. But local sheriffs and rescue workers across the state confirmed others not yet included in the state's official tally, the Associated Press reported.
Sheriff Jan Cahill of Greenbrier county, one of the hardest hit areas, said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>at least 13 were killed there.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Three were killed in Kanawha County and one each in Ohio and Jackson counties.
.The heavy rains and rising water swamped towns, inundated a two-century old resort<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and trapped 500 people in a shopping center when a bridge was washed out. The storm also knocked out power to 66,000 West Virginians, and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>forced the shut off of gas in the town of White Sulphur Springs, Tomblin said.
Teh governor said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>60 roads were closed, many<span style="color: Red;">*</span>of them destroyed, bridges were knocked<span style="color: Red;">*</span>out, <span style="color: Red;">*</span>and homes were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>burned down and washed off foundations. He saidwater rescue teams searched<span style="color: Red;">*</span>devastated areas looking for possible victims.
"It's been a long 24 hours, and the next 24 hours may not be any easier," the governor said.
Greenbrier County Sheriff Jan Cahill described<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"complete chaos" in his county from the flooding, according to the Associated Press.
[h=4]Posted![/h]A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.
Chris Stadelman, the governor's communication<span style="color: Red;">*</span>director, said some areas were “probably looking at flooding that’s going to be the worst in 100 years." Tens of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>thousands of people were without power, and several roads were impassable, the Associated Press reported.
The body of <span style="color: Red;">*</span> Emanual Williams, 8, was<span style="color: Red;">*</span>recovered in Big Wheeling Creek in the Elm Grove area of Wheeling, The Wheeling Intelligencer reported.
The newspaper said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the boy was walking with his sister and mother<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in a a foot of water in the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>creek when he slipped and was carried away by strong currents.
One of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>500 people stranded overnight at a shopping mall said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>rescuers used a rope to help him and others down a steep slope behind the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Crossings Mall in Elkview, about 12 miles from Charleston.
Eric Blackshire, who is 48, said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that he decided to get a hotel room at the mall on Thursday because a rock slide had blocked his way home to Walton. Then the bridge to the mall washed out during heavy rainfall, stranding people there overnight.
In Nicholas County, much of the town of Richwood was inundated by high water from the Cherry River,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>forcing relocation of a nursing home. In nearby Greenbrier County,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the grounds of the 238-year-old Greenbrier Resort, a National Historic Landmark, were partially flooded by water from<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Howard's Creek.
USA TODAY
Floods put golf course at Greenbrier completely under water
“We’ve got houses washed away, people trapped in automobiles and people trying to swim to get out of harm’s way,” Jim Justice, owner of the resort,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said on<span style="color: Red;">*</span>MetroNews Sportsline.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>“It’s really, really, really bad.”
One dramatic video posted on the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>WVMetro news website showed<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a burning<span style="color: Red;">*</span>house floating down Howard's Creek in White Sulphur Springs.
One river, the Elk River at Queen Shoals, West Va., rose to an-all time record height of 33.37 feet, breaking the previous record of<span style="color: Red;">*</span>32 feet, set in 1888, the weather service reported.
Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed