Two weeks and counting, some Raleigh residents still without water

Jan. 10—Roughly 150 homes are still without water after Raleigh County suffered countywide water outages during a severe winter freeze more than two weeks ago on Christmas Eve.

Shane Bragg, general manager of the Raleigh County Public Service District (PSD), provided the estimate at a briefing Monday morning at the Raleigh County Emergency Operations Center in Beaver.

Bragg said the affected homes are located along the end of their water line which extends up W.Va. 3 and then curves down Route 1 ending at Walhonde Village.

"Every side of the street down to Eunice (on W.Va. 3) should have water with the exception of Peach Tree and Drews Creek," Bragg said.

It was estimated then that 5,000 households in Raleigh County were without water when subzero temperatures moved into the area the night before Christmas and persisted for several days, freezing and bursting private water pipes in homes and businesses and causing water main breaks.

At the beginning of last week, water had been restored to all but 1,000 homes as water companies serving Raleigh County residents continued to report water line leaks.

Bragg also said homes in Slab Fork and Hotchkiss should now have water.

It was initially reported that the two areas had water restored Thursday and Friday of last week, but one Hotchkiss resident told The Register-Herald that was not the case.

Bragg said Monday that air locks in the water lines caused delays in restoring service to the area.

"I hope by the end of the day, all my customers in the Slab Fork system are back in water," he said.

Once water is restored to Slab Fork and Hotchkiss, Bragg said he will be able to pump water to those on Acord Mountain.

Heather London, who lives in Hotchkiss with her family, said her water returned around midnight on Monday though the pressure had been going down throughout the day.

London initially lost water on Dec. 29.

By Monday evening London told The Register-Herald she feared she may lose water again as she'd been told by relatives and friends living in Slab Fork that their water went out again.

"They had very low water pressure this morning and then lost it at 1 p.m.," London said. "At the moment we (have water) but our water pressure is going down."

Jonathan Stanley, with the Beckley Water Company, reported during the Monday morning briefing that all company water tanks were gaining water and doing well.

Some Beckley Water customers lost water for a few hours Monday morning following a leak in Glen Morgan. According to a Beckley Water representative, homes on Tank Branch Road, Sullivan Road, Richmond Street and C And O Shop Road lost water around 4 a.m.

That leak was repaired and water restored though those affected homes are now under a boil water advisory.

Beckley Water lifted its boil water advisory for all other customers on Friday evening.

Cool Ridge Flat Top PSD also lifted its boil water advisory on Monday, according to a post made to the PSD's Facebook page.

Boil water advisories are still in place for Raleigh County PSD customers in the Egeria, Odd, Slab Fork and Arnett system.

Free drinking water provided by the county is available for pick-up at the Coal River Fire Department and Gospel Lighthouse Church in Sundial.

Check the Beckley-Raleigh County Emergency Services Facebook page for times.

Non-potable water tankers are at Coal River Fire Department and Whitesville Fire Department. Users must bring their own jugs to fill.

Shower trailers are located at Lester Fire Department (9 a.m. — 9 p.m.), Coal River Fire Department (10 a.m. — 7 p.m.) and Whitesville Fire Department (9 a.m. — noon and 5 — 8 p.m.).

Users must bring their own toiletries and linens for each facility.

Individuals who are unable to get out to these sites can call the 911 Center at 304-255-9121 to arrange water deliveries. Residents are being advised not to call 9-1-1 for water-related information as 9-1-1 should only be used for emergencies.