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West Va. Mountain Towns Face Long Recovery
Written by Christina Ward, Staff Writer, RedCross.org
Many residents who live alongside rivers and streams in southern West Virginia lost their homes.
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WYOMING COUNTY, West Virginia, July 12, 2001 — Through a curtain of heavy rain, Glenna Toler watched her sister's home float away on Sunday afternoon. Toler felt helpless, already driven out of her own low-lying mobile home to seek refuge at the hillside house of a neighbor. As dangerous flash floods raced through their mountain valley community, her sister's home was lifted off its foundation by surging floodwater and mud. It ended up in a nearby yard. "We just sat on the porch and watched," Toler said. "There was nothing we could do."
Toler lives in the small town of Oceana, one of many devastated mountain villages in Wyoming County. Of the eight counties in southern West Virginia declared federal disaster areas after the Sunday floods, Wyoming was one of the worst hit. Entire houses were left overturned on riverbeds. Cars were crushed by tree limbs and mud. Businesses, schools and churches were filled with water and could be unusable for months.
Officials were still trying to assess damage on Wednesday, three days after the disaster. Even after the water receded, debris-filled roads and destroyed bridges made immediate access to some of the communities difficult, if not impossible.
This West Virginia resident looked out his window Sunday evening to discover a new house in his front yard.
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Like many residents who live alongside rivers and streams in this area of the state, Glenna Toler completely lost her home. A single mother, she said that she and her 11-year-old daughter have nothing left — furniture, clothing and all other belongings ruined by the mud that poured into her rooms. "I even lost my job — I worked at the restaurant down the road, and it was totaled on Sunday." To make matters worse, even before the weekend storm many local families were still trying to recover from severe floods that struck the area in May.
After applying for disaster relief money from the government, Toler is planning to move out of the state. "After two floods, we can't rebuild here, in this same place." She is trying to persuade nearby relatives to join her in starting over.
Many other families from southern West Virginia, however, are opting to stay — even if cleanup and repair takes weeks or months.
"A lot of these people have lived here their entire lives," said Rich Aliff, an American Red Cross worker with the East River Mountain Chapter in Bluefield, W.Va. "They've experienced a lot of floods — although these are the worst in years. Probably even worse than 1963." In that year, severe floods crippled the region and went down in local history as the "flood of all floods" — until now.
Aliff himself grew up in Wyoming County, and he drove over from his home in nearby Mercer as quickly as he could on Sunday afternoon, to check on family and friends. When he saw the widespread destruction, he stayed and organized the opening of a Red Cross shelter at Oceana High School. The site is one of more than 20 Red Cross shelters established in the wake of the floods. In Oceana alone, local officials estimated that 90 percent of the town's 1,550 people were evacuated on Sunday. Reports from surrounding towns, and surrounding counties, are similar.
A Red Cross emergency response vehicle delivers emergency meals in the worst-affected areas.
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The Red Cross has launched a major disaster operation in response to the floods. Disaster volunteers have been recruited from all over the country to assist with the relief effort. More than a dozen Red Cross relief trucks are distributing food, water and supplies throughout affected areas, with more on the way.
As the larger Red Cross response was organized early this week out of the state capital, local West Virginia Red Cross chapters and volunteers responded immediately.
Cheryl Walker, whose Oceana home is positioned high enough to avoid floodwater, volunteered with her husband to work at the local Red Cross shelter. They have been working practically around the clock ever since, joining about a dozen other impromptu volunteers who have been organizing food, blanket and cleaning-supply distribution for their community from Oceana High School.
"A lot of people are handling it well, but of course many are upset, too," Walker said. "It's so hard to lose everything, even if you know you are fortunate to be alive." Walker also grew up in Oceana, and she said it is tough to see her neighbors' pain. It is also tough to see her hometown in shambles.
"It's just amazing to me," she said, peering out at the thick mountain woods behind the high school shelter, where quiet Laurel Creek, like all of the valley's streams, now runs well within its banks again. On Sunday, the small stream raged out of control, wrecking the school football field and the nearby community pool — where Walker worked as teenager, some 30 years ago. "I can't believe a little creek could do so much harm." Her words surely echoed the thoughts of residents all over south West Virginia.
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All American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. The Red Cross also supplies nearly half of the nation's lifesaving blood. This, too, is made possible by generous voluntary donations. You can help the victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. You can make a secure online credit card donation or call 1-800-HELP NOW (1-800-435-7669) or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Or you may send your donation to your local Red Cross or to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013. To donate blood, please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543), or contact your local Red Cross to find out about upcoming blood drives.
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