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ELKINS – Emergency workers performed water rescues in both Randolph and Barbour counties Sunday after severe storms caused flooding in the local area.
Flooding in the Montrose area of Randolph County area forced officials to rescue a family who were stranded in their home by high water, Randolph County Office Emergency Management Director Mike Miller told The Inter-Mountain Monday.
“With the rain from Sunday, the Montrose and Leading Creek areas got hit really hard,” Miller said. “The Leading Creek Volunteer Fire Department did a search in an area close to the Randolph/Tucker County line and they had to rescue a family who couldn’t get out because of high water. Thankfully they were able to get them out safely.”
Emergency crews in Barbour County responded to several water-related incidents on Sunday, Philippi Volunteer Fire Department officials said.
The Philippi VFD was dispatched to assist the Belington Volunteer Fire Department on the Mudgut Road at approximately 9:30 a.m. for a subject trapped inside their residence and surrounded by floodwater, department officials stated in a press release. Belington VFD members utilized the department’s rescue boat to safely recover the individual.
Two hours later, the Philippi VFD responded to a single-vehicle accident on Route 57, when a vehicle lost control while traveling through high water and crashed. Two occupants of the vehicle were found safely outside of the vehicle when crews arrived.
In Randolph County, Miller noted high water was running across the Georgetown Road, on the Beverly side, and part of the Back Road in Mill Creek Monday.
“There was about a foot and a half of water across the Georgetown Road, and on the Back Road in Mill Creek it was across the road but not as high as on Georgetown,” Miller said. “We are going to continue to watch the rain gauges and make our rounds across the county in order to assess the situation. As long as it doesn’t rain a whole lot more I think we’re going to be OK.”
Miller said citizens need to keep an eye on rapidly rising water. He cautioned motorists from attempting to drive through water on the roadways.
“When people see streams rapidly rising, they need to get to higher ground,” Miller said. “Flood waters are very dangerous and things can change in a hurry. People need to not attempt to drive through high water. Not only is it a driving offense where you can get a ticket, but it is very dangerous. All the time people try to go through water with these smaller cars and their engine gets flooded out and then they are stuck.”
Miller said high water conditions can be reported by calling the non-emergency number of the Randolph OEM at 304-636-2000. He said the organization’s Facebook page will also be updated with information.
Tucker County officials also dealt with flash flooding on Sunday, and were also called to help with the individuals who were trapped on the Tucker County/Randolph County line.
“We had some issues with flooding in the Pheasant Mountain area of the county on Sunday,” Tucker County OEM Director Kevin White told The Inter-Mountain Monday. “It was mainly caused by mountain run-off and ditches being overflowed. Emergency responders in Tucker County were also called to the water rescue that had to be performed by Leading Creek, but the Parsons Fire Department was unable to access the area from our end, and for the safety of the individuals involved, it was faster to come from the Leading Creek side.”
In Upshur County, the area in our region which saw the worst of the deadly July 21 flooding, was not hit as hard this time as Randolph and Barbour by showers and thunderstorms over the weekend, officials said.
“Accumulation-wise we didn’t get anything ridiculous over the weekend,” Stephen C. Wykoff, director of Upshur County’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, told The Inter-Mountain Monday. “Where we are running into issues is that the ground is already so saturated that there is no place for the rain to go. So that’s what is currently causing issues at this point in time. Without having a place for the rain to go, it kind of backs up in the drains, in people’s yards, and places like that. We really didn’t get anything significant over the weekend.”
Wykott said he is hopeful nothing substantial comes with the storms projected in the coming days.
“We are finally getting into a routine, but we have a long way to go,” Wykoff said. “We are doing OK at the moment and we are keeping our fingers crossed that we don’t get a whole lot of rain from these storms coming in toward the end of the week.”
According to the National Weather Service in Charleston, today’s forecast is calling for sunny skies and a high temperature of 80 degrees. Unfortunately, showers and thunderstorms are expected to return to the area on Wednesday and continue through the weekend.