Recovery continues in storm's aftermath

Apr. 4—In his Wednesday morning administrative briefing, Gov. Jim Justice asked West Virginians to once again reach out to help each other.

"Please just do this, just please do this, check on your neighbors, do all the great stuff that we do all the time, just call and check on your neighbors, or go see 'em and make sure they're OK," he said. "From time to time, we have some really bad, bad, bad stuff as far as weather in West Virginia, but we just deal with it, we go on..."

"But please just check on one another," Justice said.

The previous day, Justice declared a state of emergency in Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln and Nicholas counties because of winds that approached 90 mph across the region.

Kevin Walker, director of the Fayette County Office of Emergency Management, said the damage in the Hico area of Fayette County was "worse than anything I've seen in my emergency management career."

After the storms ran their course Tuesday, Walker said the situation remained fairly stable in the overnight hours.

"We're now moving into the recovery process to get (those affected) stabilized to the best of their ability," he said around noon on Wednesday. "The main focus is to try to take care of these people's needs."

A total of 13-15 structures, including at least one business, suffered significant storm damage in the Hico/Lookout area Tuesday, according to Walker. Of those, he estimated two to be destroyed and the remainder to have suffered "moderate to severe damage." There was also "moderate" damage in the Valley, he said.

Tim Richardson, chief of the Oak Hill Fire Department, which provided mutual aid in the Hico area, was also shocked by the damage.

"I've always been told that our mountains protect us from tornadoes, how they break them up," he said. "This is one time it didn't.

"It took out (about) 14 houses, but nobody was seriously hurt. I don't know how," he said Wednesday morning. "There were some scrapes and scratches, but I'll be honest, I don't know how they survived. I don't know of any devastating injuries, but overall it was just pretty destructive."

"Some of the people described to us over at Hico, they said it literally came through and hit and in 3 minutes it was gone," Richardson added.

Emergency officials from local, county and state response services worked together to immediately begin rescue and clean-up, Richardson said.

"Everybody was affected by (the storm)," he said. "The DOH was right there everywhere we were. We all worked together. We had to have loaders to lift those big trees.

"It was just a lot of good team effort."

Walker said the National Weather Service plans to have representatives on the ground in Fayette County Thursday to assess the damage and determine if the weather event involved straight-line winds or tornado activity.

Walker said that one injury, involving an individual who was transported to a medical facility, had been reported to his office as of Wednesday afternoon.

Local roadways that were impacted on Tuesday have reopened, but Walker still urges caution. "Roads are clear, but people need to use caution, especially through Rte. 60 (as debris removal continues)."

Oak Hill looked "like New York City with all that traffic" on Tuesday, Richardson said, as travelers on U.S. Rte. 19 tried to get past downed power lines which shut down the highway both north- and south-bound at the Pea Ridge exit. Once into Oak Hill, though, Richardson said drivers were met by downed trees on Lundale Drive.

"We had 100-year-old trees blown down," he said.

As of Wednesday around noon, around 8,900 customers still remained without power in Fayette County, down from slightly over 16,000 on Tuesday. Some customers may not see power restored until around 11 p.m. Thursday, Walker estimated. Many power poles and trees are "mangled and twisted and torn."

At the storm's peak, Appalachian Power reported around 125,000 West Virginians without power. As of the company's 7 a.m. report on Thursday, about 45,000 West Virginians remained without power.

Power had been restored in much of Oak Hill by 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Richardson said, "so we were pretty fortunate."

There have been no reports of flooding yet, but the county is still under a flood watch and Walker said that "we do run the risk of potential small streams being flooded, so people need to use caution when driving."

The process of making overall damage assessments has yet to begin, said Walker. The entire recovery/assessment process is "going to take a while." Once damage assessments are completed, approaching the Federal Emergency Management Agency to seek a disaster declaration/funding can occur, Walker said.

According to Walker and Nick Mooney, the Midland Trail Community Center in Ansted in currently open as a shelter. Walker said that the Salvation Army and I Heart Church are providing meals to victims and first responders Wednesday and Thursday. Further need will be assessed from that point.

Tim Payton, the director of operations for Fayette County Schools, said school structural damage in the affected area wasn't overwhelming. "We lost a couple of light poles at the football field at Midland Trail High School," he said. "We have a couple of small roof leaks that we will address.

"Other than that, we have found our school to be in good shape. We were very lucky."

Fayette County Schools was among the county school systems closed on Wednesday, as were those in Kanawha and Lincoln counties.

On Tuesday, FCS students were not in school, and staff were dismissed early, Payton said.

Among the other closures on Wednesday were the Fayette County Courthouse and the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve's Canyon Rim Visitor Center in Lansing. According to the NRGNPP's Facebook page, the boardwalk to view the New River Gorge Bridge was also closed, although the upper bridge overlook remained open. The Sandstone Visitor Center was open on Wednesday.

In Oak Hill, the Fayette County Public Library branch announced Wednesday via social media that it was open with Internet access and that patrons could stop by with their charging cords and charge their electronics. At the same time, they could avail themselves of the numerous services the library system offers the public, officials noted.

Mayor Sharon Cruikshank of Fayetteville announced on Thursday morning that the phone line was still down at Fayetteville Town Hall and advised residents to please call 304-574-0255 or 304-640-2635. If it's an emergency, please call 911.

Also on Wednesday, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey disseminated a press release warning residents in the affected areas to beware of scammers.

"Consumers have begun surveying damage and planning for repairs or rebuilding" following strong winds on Tuesday, Morrisey said.

"Sadly, scammers will take advantage of the situation and prey upon those already facing hardship. Consumers must cautiously research any contractor they consider hiring."

Scammers often will canvass neighborhoods and offer to repair damaged property with deals that seem too good to be true, the release stated. At times, they will imply they are working on nearby homes or suggest they are with the bank or insurance company.

Many times, the money is paid without completion of the work.

Scammers also fail to provide contact information such as a contractor's license, business card or other identification, and they use high-pressure sales tactics to force immediate purchases.

The attorney general is asking residents to take their time, research options and be very careful before hiring anyone to do work.

Anyone with questions or a potential storm-related home repair scam should call the Consumer Protection Division at 800-368-8808. To file a report online, visitwww.ago.wv.gov.

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

Email: ckeenan@register-herald.com; follow @Fayette_Cheryl