W. Va. Towns Devastated by Floods

K I M B A L L, W.Va., July 10, 2001 -- Alec Amerson, 82, looked at what once was his town.

He pointed to buildings and said, "That one was a Laundromat. That one was a church. That one was a beauty shop. The one beside it was a funeral home."

What was left Monday was a row of broken windows, water-drenched stores with merchandise in jumbled heaps, buildings whose wooden fronts were caved in.

Down the road, Donna Gianato stared at Gianato Hardware, which she and her husband operate.

"We're just completely in shock. This whole town is gone," she said.

Gianato's father-in-law, James Gianato, 75, said his general merchandise store next door was destroyed. He has a small amount of flood insurance, but not much.

"We never thought we needed it because we've never had water before, at least not like this," he said, looking at a water mark about 5 feet high.

A Big Question Mark

When asked if his town would rebuild, Kimball Mayor Jack Premo, 78, said, "I would put a big question mark beside that."

Kimball was not alone. Waters emerging from the Elkhorn River — little more than a wading stream most days — also created similar damage to portions of other McDowell County towns on U.S. Route 52: Northfork, Keystone, Superior, Vivian and Welch.

Just north in Wyoming County, the towns of Mullens, Oceana and Matheny were essentially shut down Monday, as business and home owners looked for ways to salvage what flood waters hadn't destroyed.

Edwin Toler, from Matheny, stared at a bridge where an entire mobile home had lodged. Rising waters of the Guyandotte River on Sunday had essentially welded the trailer into the side of the bridge.

"This one's not the only one. There was another trailer that passed under the bridge," he said.

Millions in Damage

The total cost of damage from flash floods that swept through southern West Virginia on Sunday was well over $20 million, said state Department of Military and Public Safety Secretary Joe Martin.

"Let no one underestimate the severity of this flood," said Gov. Bob Wise. "This is probably going to be the most costly flood in West Virginia's history. This is going to be a very costly flood."

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.

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.

Wise declared a state of emergency in eight counties: Boone, Doddridge, Fayette, McDowell, Mercer, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming. He met with legislative leaders Monday evening about calling a special session to appropriate money for flood relief, but decided to wait at least a week.

Wise said he will use $10 million from his contingency fund on flood relief, and may spend more if needed.

He said he would also ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend its declaration for the May flooding so relief efforts could start within days. A FEMA declaration was expected within 48 hours, Wise said.

3,000 Homes Damaged

State officials said up to 3,000 homes were damaged by water or mudslides, and some were destroyed.

One person was killed in Wyoming County, Bonnie Katherine Shumate of McGraws.

Three people were killed in Kentucky, more than two dozen families were evacuated in southwestern Virginia and thousands lost power in West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and North Carolina.

The same region was hit by repeated storms from May 15 through June 11, causing millions of dollars in damage. Sixteen counties were eligible for some type of federal disaster assistance from that flood, including most of those flooded again Sunday.

The state's National Guard had 194 people working on rescue operations Monday and planned to deploy 1,000, said Maj. Gen. Alan Tackett.

Wise called the flood damage "unprecedented."

"There is still a great deal of shock on the faces of many West Virginians," Wise said Monday evening after returning from two days of surveying the damage. "I don't think the amount of harm this has caused has sunk in."

The storm dumped nearly 8 inches of rain in Mullens and as much as 6.77 inches just outside of Beckley and came at a rate of about 2 inches an hour in some areas, the National Weather Service said.

Electricity, Phone Service Out

Lightning and flood damage left a peak of 14,000 people without power Sunday. About 1,500 remained without power early today. American Electric Power said customers in heavily damaged areas of Wyoming, McDowell and Fayette counties may not have power restored until Wednesday evening.

As of this morning, Verizon had about 1,450 reports about lost phone service in flood-ravaged counties.

Spokesman Paul Miller said technicians have been brought in from other areas of the state to help and service will be restored as soon as possible — depending on the severity of the problems.

Amtrak announced Monday it was suspending the operation of The Cardinal, the passenger train that operates between Chicago and Washington, D.C., because part of the track in West Virginia was washed out.

The service will remain suspended until the track is repaired. Amtrak will offer refunds.

About 35 miles of track had spots that were washed out, said Kathy Burns, a CSX Railroad spokeswoman. It will take about four days to repair one of the main tracks. She did not know how long it would take to repair the tandem track.

Freight trains will be rerouted until the track is repaired, Burns said.