This news story originally provided by The Herald-Dispatch

August 19, 2005

Mingo hit by flash flooding

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. (AP) -- Creeks swollen by heavy rains rushed out of their banks on Friday, closing roads, disrupting electrical service and damaging about 200 homes in Mingo County.

Of the damaged homes, about 25 had water in the living areas. The rest had water in basements, crawl spaces or garages, said Acting Emergency Services Director Kevin Wilson. No emergency shelters were needed.

One woman in her 40s was slightly injured when she slipped and fell into a drain. "It sucked her through a drain pipe. She was rescued," Wilson said. He did not know her name.

The county has declared an emergency and is seeking a state emergency declaration, he said.

Several residences in the Chattaroy area were evacuated as a precaution because of high water, said Mark Miller, a Mingo County emergency services supervisor.

"Chattaroy was completely cut off," Miller said.

It was the third time in 14 months that flash flooding has hit Mingo County.

The main damage this time was concentrated in areas that have been hit before: Dan's Branch, Chattaroy and Varney, Wilson said.

Wilson said he plans to ask inspectors from the Division of Forestry, DEP and gas companies to look at those sites to determine whether logging might have exacerbated the flooding.

"There's been a lot of logging activity up and around these residential areas," Wilson said. "I realize that's a lot of rain at one time.

"The folks we talk to in these residential areas, they all seem to believe, they have been residents there 20, 30 years, they've never seen anything like it until the logging started. ... Every time it rains they get washed out," Wilson said.

Two houses were damaged when a valley fill failed, sending the mining material into a sediment pond and water down a hollow between Varney and Delbarton, said state Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Jessica Greathouse.

The DEP issued an imminent harm cessation order for White Flame Energy, meaning the Nicewonder Contracting Inc.-owned property must clean up the damage before continuing work on the valley fill, Greathouse said.

Some parts of Mingo County got 5.5 inches of rain, and DEP inspectors were responding to several citizen complaints around the county. It was unclear whether the complaints related to active or abandoned mine sites, Greathouse said.

Two feet of water rolled down Alderson Street in Williamson after the city received nearly 2 inches of rain Friday morning. Williamson received a total 5.9 inches during a 36-hour period, Williamson Fire Chief Jerry Mounts told the Williamson Daily News.

High water covered U.S. 52 between Cinderella Hollow and Williamson. Flooding also was reported in the Delbarton area, the newspaper said.

"Our relief dispatchers couldn't even get to work," Miller said.

About 300 American Electric Power customers in the area lost power for about an hour, spokesman Phil Moye said. Only a handful remained without power Friday afternoon.

Miller said electrical service at the county's 911 center was sporadic and an emergency generator was used.

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