Forecast predicts break in heavy rains flood areas across the region
Mar. 2—WELCH — Flooding and high water seen Monday morning in southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia started receding by the early afternoon while forecasters predicted a break from the rain starting today.
The National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va. issued a flood warning was in effect until midnight for Mercer and Summers counties in West Virginia and in Tazewell, Va. In McDowell County, a flood warning was in effect until 10 p.m. Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Charleston.
High waters in both areas were starting to recede by about 2 p.m. Monday.
"Things are pretty much at crest now and starting to trend down, " meteorologist Mike Sporer in Blacksburg, Va. said about 4:30 p.m. "Hopefully, the situation will continue."
Rainfall gradually stopped. The Weather Service's forecast first called for a wintry mix Wednesday, but later changed that to sunny.
"The rain has ended and hopefully, if we get lucky, we'll have a nice little dry stretch to dry out," Sporer said. "Initially, we were looking at another weather system Wednesday, but now that's trending further and further south. Hopefully, the trend will continue."
Flooding was reported at intersections in McDowell County.
"We've got actually two underpasses going towards Welch Community Hospital, and the one at Coney Island near Welch, that are underwater," said Angela Robinette, deputy director of McDowell County 911.
Water issues were reported in the Panther area, and some slight flooding was reported in the Berwind area and the War area, Robinette said. A landslide that occurred Sunday in the Beartown area near Bradshaw had been cleared up. Local law enforcement agencies and fire departments watched for flood conditions in their areas. No injuries were reported.
District 10 road crews with the West Virginia Division of Highways were working to clear mud and debris from WV 80 in McDowell County on Monday morning.
Some McDowell County residents had property that was impacted by Monday's flooding. Carrie Banks of Elkhorn said that she got up about 7 a.m. Monday and learned that the one-line road connecting her home to the main road had collapsed.
"The water came over the bridge and the bridge caved in," she said.
In Mercer County, high water was reported on Route 19 in the Lake Shawnee area and in the vicinity of Rock. Dispatchers with Mercer County 911 said the West Virginia Division of Highways had been made aware of the problem.
In Richlands, Va., officers with the Richlands Police Department and Richlands Fire and Rescue started alerting residents Monday morning as flood waters started breaching streams and the local river.
"We beat on doors, woke up residents, told them the water was going up, and to be vigilant and be ready to evacuate," Chief Jerry Gilbert of the Richlands,Va. Police Department said.
High water was around the police department. Water was in Forth Street, and close to some homes behind a nearby mall, Gilbert said.
Flood waters gradually started to recede Monday afternoon. Gilbert said that he could see that the rain had stopped, and marks left on nearby utility poles by the high water showed that it had receded by 3 to 4 inches.
"I'm a little concerned about the wind," Gilbert added. "The wind is getting up, and with the ground so saturated, we worry about the trees."
Gilbert said the city was monitoring the flood waters.
"We're just maintaining contact with our neighbors, and hopefully we won't have anymore rain and hopefully the river has crested, and hopefully we can get back to normal and start to clean up," he said.
About an inch of mud was being deposited in places where the water rose.
"Any place you have sitting water and it recedes, it's quite a mess," Gilbert said.
In Giles County, Va. crews with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) were monitoring a section of U.S. Route 460 near Rich Creek, Va. that was closed last week by a mudslide. Both eastbound lanes have been reopened along one one westbound lane, according to Jason Bond, a spokesperson for VDOT.
"We've been monitoring the slope due to the rain," Bond said.
A temporary barricade was been erected next to the slope and the inner westbound lane of Route 460 as a precaution. About 1,000 cubic yard of material have been removed from the slope right down to the rock, Bond stated.
"We've done quite a bit of work to stabilize it, and we are continuing to keep an eye on it," he said.
VDOT's current plan is to wait for drier weather so geologists can examine the slope and determine what needs to be done next, he said.
— Contact Greg Jordan at gjordan@bdtonline.com
