Justice gets first-hand look at Fayette tornado damage

Apr. 8—"Just send help, county."

Nuttall Volunteer Fire Department Chief Tommy Coleman recalls uttering those words to emergency dispatchers on Tuesday afternoon, April 2, after vicious winds ripped through the Hico, Lookout and Lavista areas of Fayette County.

The fast-moving storm was eventually ruled an EF2 tornado with peak winds of 130 miles per hour by the National Weather Service. The EF2 classification features winds ranging from 111 to 135 miles per hour.

The path of destruction included numerous homes and businesses, including Coleman's home, which absorbed heavy damage and has since been demolished. According to Nuttall Fire Department Deputy Chief Rick Lewis, the count through Monday, April 8, includes over 30 houses damaged, with nine displacements, including seven structures that are "probably completely destroyed."

"We can't thank everybody enough for the help and support (in recent days)," Lewis said as he and Coleman were among those who visited with Gov. Jim Justice on Monday at the fire department. After taking part in the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources' West Virginia Gold Rush at Babcock State Park Monday, Justice and other officials got a first-hand look at some of the storm damage.

On Monday, Justice greeted some of those directly affected by the tornado and some of the emergency responders — several of whom fell into both categories. He expressed empathy for what families in the area have gone through in recent days. Of Coleman, he said, "This man's a hero."

The governor said the state is attempting to combine recent flooding, tornadoes and other weather-related incidents under "one umbrella" to see if that would lead to a FEMA disaster declaration. "It's really hard to do, because this is not widespread enough to command FEMA," he said.

"In all fairness, and it really upsets me, we had $50 million in my budget to take care of just this kind of stuff, because this is happening non-stop in West Virginia," Justice said. "In my budget in the State of the State, there was $50 million in the budget in order to take care of isolated issues all around our state."

That funding request didn't come to a vote during the legislative session, so Justice said the aim is to present it again in a May call "but that ain't going to help you today."

"If we had just passed it in my budget, we'd already have money coming your way right now," Justice added.

During his Fayette visit, Justice recalled the devastation of the 2016 flooding in West Virginia.

Lewis detailed a plan of attack for this week as recovery continues. "Going forward, our goal for this week is, No. 1, is there are some meal trains (spread out) out there for some families. As far as supplies right now, no supplies are needed, other than maybe some totes," which can be brought into the fire station. "Our goal is to re-evaluate and assess probably mid-week, and we'll have another work party probably Saturday. We have a couple of houses that we just got cleared today, and we should be able to demolish those Saturday and get those hauled off."

The community response for a cleanup work party on Saturday, April 6 was "absolutely amazing," Lewis said. "This past Saturday, we took care of about nine or 10 displacements or areas." Different teams combined to accomplish the tasks, he stressed. "Saturday was a huge day. We were able to really get a lot accomplished Saturday and complete a lot of tasks.

"If you were here last Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, and you came back today, you could see a tremendous difference."

Whether it was businesses, organizations, churches or individuals providing food, or work equipment, or other types of support, Lewis said, "We couldn't have done it without them."

That type of support is "the best thing about Fayette County, and our Fayette County Fire Association is just that," he added. "We have 16 fire departments in Fayette County, and they all come together, no matter what. We're there, and everybody wants to help. During the time of the disaster, Mike Gray (Ansted Fire Department chief) came up and took control of the scene. We had John John McGinnis, who is a firefighter at Oak Hill but is also the EOC director at Nicholas County, and he was Johnny-on-the-spot to help us. Just different people (responded and made contributions).

"Right now, we don't have a Fayette County fire coordinator. It was done away with by the county commission. ... However, things like this is when you see that we're in desperate need of keeping that fire coordinator. It's a must, either full- or part-time. It's not just about keeping up with the fire department money from the levy, it's about having boots on the ground when things like this happen.

"Everybody has a job to do, and this past week we all came together, from other fire departments, our assets, our resources, and Saturday was a well-oiled machine."

----Coleman took some time Monday to recount the horrible hours of last Tuesday. He said he was at the fire department when the tornado struck, although he had considered taking a brief nap at home in the preceding hour after helping the department respond to the storm's first wallop earlier that day. The rest of the family had driven to Russellville, so the house — located behind the Sunoco that was damaged — was empty. "It picked it up and moved it off the foundation," he said. "It's completely gone now."

Instead of catching a few winks, Coleman went to Russellville to get a bite to eat around 3:30 p.m. His plan was to go back to the fire station around 4 p.m. "I heard thunder and stuff," he said. "Just as I was pulling into the parking lot, they toned us out for a tree down in Ansted." He was then told he didn't need to respond.

"That's when I heard it coming," he said. "I actually told them on the radio ... we're getting ready to get hammered."

The winds were "rocking this place." However, that soon was followed by "completely eerie silence."

He got a call from his nephew, who lives very near the Coleman home. He was making sure Coleman was okay. "Uncle Tommy, your house is destroyed," the nephew told him. "Your garage is gone, your buildings are gone." Coleman then proceeded to drive over and view what was left of his house.

"I've really been here more than I've been at my place so far," said Coleman. "Luckily, the Fayette County Fire Association has stepped up. We had a work detail Saturday." That included Gray, who "went down and tore my house out for me, because I told him I can't do it. He said 'you ain't got to worry about it.'"

While the family's dog kennels were blown away during the storm, the dogs "are all perfectly fine," Coleman said. "They're farmed out to different buddies."

"I'm 48, and I've lived there all my life," he said. "I bought the place right beside my old home place (about 20 years ago)."

After the call for aid to the county, Coleman said, "Within minutes, the Fayette County Fire Association was standing everywhere."

----Republican West Virginia Senators Jack David Woodrum and Vince Deeds were among those who joined Justice Monday to inspect the damage.

Both men, who represent District 10, took a few minutes to praise local fire departments and give a plug for support for an upcoming fire levy in the May primary. (Law enforcement and libraries will also be on the Fayette County ballot.)

"You need a fire levy," said Woodrum. Everybody who is responding to such disasters "needs to be trained and well-equipped." That, in turn, will make life safer for your friends and neighbors, he said.

"Fire departments are the backbone of the community," he added. "Anything you ever need done, they're the guys that are going to do it. We need to support them any way we can. They're at every car wreck; they're at every house fire. You hope those things are few and far between."

The helmets hanging in the fire department bays "represent every volunteer that comes in here and supports this community," said Deeds. "The best thing we can do is equip them and support them because that gives them a sense of pride." Supporting a fire levy is "a great way" to strengthen the community, he said.

Woodrum said legislators trimmed some of what Justice wanted in his original budget, with the thought of revisiting the requests in May "when we had a real good grasp" on available revenues. "That doesn't help us today," he said.

"Tornadoes aren't something we typically deal with, but weather cycles are changing," said Woodrum, who originally visited Fayette County with Deeds on the Wednesday following the tornado. "It was a miracle that nobody was killed."

Fayette County Director of Emergency Management Kevin Walker said his office was present to support the community's needs to "make sure they've got what they need."

He said local officials are working with meteorologists to track potential bad weather coming this week. "We just want people to be ready, be prepared and stay alert to what's going on. Watch the weather updates, watch the watches and warnings, and please take precaution and take shelter if advised to do so."

Email: skeenan@register-herald.com; follow on Facebook. Follow on Twitter @gb_scribe