Flash floods hammer W.Va.

Associated Press

MULLENS, W.Va. — Red mud filled thousands of homes and kept drivers stuck on mountain roads Monday after flash floods washed through the narrow valleys of southern West Virginia’s depressed coal country, carrying off mobile homes and forcing residents to their rooftops.

Officials said up to 3,000 homes were damaged by water or mudslides, and some were destroyed. Police wouldn’t let anyone drive down the hill into Mullens on Monday because so much mud filled the town after record flash flooding. Down the Guyandotte River, mud blocked roads into the town of Pineville.

"I’ve been in some of these homes. There’s mud two feet thick," said state Delegate Lacy Wright. "There’s instances where they don’t even know where their homes are."

At least one person was killed in southern West Virginia as thunderstorms sped through the region Sunday. Two people were killed in neighboring eastern Kentucky, more than two dozen families were evacuated in southwestern Virginia and thousands lost power in West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina.

West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise, whose helicopter was used to pluck people off roofs, had declared a state of emergency in eight counties.

Nearly 8 inches of rain fell Sunday at Mullens, 55 miles south of Charleston, the National Weather Service said.

The Guyandotte and Tug Fork rivers jumped to record levels within hours, the Guyandotte peaking Sunday at 18 feet in Pineville, passing the 1997 record of 17.7 feet. A flood gauge in Welch quit working when the Tug Fork hit 17.8 feet, more than 4 feet above flood stage, the weather service said. Wright said the water rose 5 or 6 feet over Welch’s 15-foot flood wall.

The U.S. Geologic Survey said flooding on parts of the Guyandotte River exceeded the 100-year flood level, the estimated maximum expected in a 100-year period.

"It’s never happened here like this," said Bill Wade, 82. "I saw a school bus completely covered in water. I saw a casket floating down the street. I saw motor homes and mobile homes floating in front of me."

Associated Press