National Guard arrives to help flooded areas

Aug. 29—As Fayette and Kanawha counties continued to recover from a flood that occurred nearly two weeks ago, the West Virginia National Guard arrived in Fayette County in the latter stages of last week.

And, donations continued to arrive from numerous locations, agencies, churches, organizations and individuals.

According to Kevin Walker, director of the Fayette County Office of Emergency Management, a National Guard contingent of 10 began working in the latter part of the week with an eye toward being involved for a period of seven to 10 days in both Smithers and Gauley Bridge.

"They are strictly for flood debris removal," said Walker. "They are going to pick up the debris off the curb. Residents who are cleaning and mucking out their homes, it has to be flood debris only and it has to be to the curb."

The debris is being removed from the curb and taken to temporary dumpsites, one in Smithers and one in Gauley Bridge, according to Walker.

Also providing valuable assistance in recent days have been 24 Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Team members, Walker said.

"Right now, our main concern is making sure the debris is removed, then we're going to move into what's called the long-term recovery process, and that is working with the citizens to try to get them back to a place they were pre-flood," Walker explained. "We'll be doing some training with some volunteers that we have, doing case management training." They will help look at need and assessments for families.

"We do have a county building inspector out doing damage assessments," Walker added.

"The immediate danger is gone, but what we need people to understand and be aware of is even if your home did get water in it, there are places that can get black mold, and a lot of people don't think about this," Walker said. "Like the refrigerator has insulation in the back of it to keep it cool, that insulation — if it got wet — is going to have black mold. Insulation under your house, it can get black mold. Use precautions to try to mitigate that process."

"Be patient with us, and we're going to work through this as a community and a county," he concluded.

The day-long traffic congestion along Rte. 60 caused by a tractor trailer wreck on the Skitter Creek Bridge on the West Virginia Turnpike caused crews to take extra precautions with travel on Thursday, Walker said.

As the flood recovery process proceeds, residents are still being urged to complete individual surveys of damage they incurred during the flood, which are turned over to emergency management officials.

"Our city garage is devastated," Smithers Mayor Dr. Anne Cavalier said Thursday in providing an update, adding later, "I think we're going to get good news on the packer, the dump truck and the tractor/end loader (that they will likely be salvageable)."

City officials are detailing items that were damaged or lost during the flood, such as small equipment, vehicles, etc., she said. Also, they are documenting private hires needed to help take care of normal city operations while flood recovery is ongoing, such as cutting the grass.

"It's a complex and interesting process of No. 1, helping the people most impacted, and then No. 2, assessing the damage so that we can create an opportunity for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to come in here and help us (in the event a declaration is made)," Cavalier said.

"We're absolutely indebted to the governor and the National Guard coming out," she continued.

"Private contractors have given us estimates for picking up the debris, managing it the way it must be managed, and getting it to the landfill, and estimates on our city garage and replacing it," the mayor noted.

Cavalier said that about 40 Smithers-area homes and apartments were "significantly damaged," and 60 more sustained the entry of water and mud. She said four homes — one in Smithers and three on county property up Cannelton Hollow — are "so significantly damaged the families may not be able to go back in there and salvage those houses." Experts are expected to make a final assessment on the structures by early this week.

Several local businesses were impacted, as well, and pipes for a current stormwater separation project in the city washed away, as was previously reported. A good deal of that pipe has been recovered from the Kanawha River with assistance from the Glasgow Fire Department and the City of Montgomery.

On Thursday, among the donations that made their way to the Smithers Gateway Center was a truckload of supplies from Feed the Children. Additionally, numerous items arrived via a contingent from Judson Baptist Church in Belle, which collected donated food and supplies from their community members. They delivered items to both Smithers and Gauley Bridge on Thursday. Church representative Kelli Bolen said the group also took two truckloads of items to Point Lick up Campbells Creek.

"We were very pleased that we got things so quickly when we put the word out," said Bolen, who said a posting on Facebook yielded a large amount of donations in a short time.

An emergency shelter that was in place in the early days of flood recovery in Smithers is no longer in operation, but the city hall is currently hosting an emergency supply center that was well-stocked last week. It is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Anyone that wants to make donations is asked to contact city hall before doing so. Clothing and furniture are not being accepted.

City employees went house-to-house delivering donations of food and cleaning supplies on Thursday, the mayor said.

"We have to be patient," Cavalier said. "The flood was an event; recovery is a process."

On Friday, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) visited Smithers, Hughes Creek and Point Lick Park in Fayette and Kanawha counties to see firsthand the recent flooding damage in those two counties.

"Gayle and I continue to pray for the West Virginia families and communities impacted by the flooding over the past several weeks. We are grateful to the first responders and volunteers working tirelessly to help their communities and fellow West Virginians during this difficult time," Manchin said in a press release. "I will continue working with national, state and local leaders to ensure the families and communities affected by the flooding in Kanawha and Fayette counties have the resources they need to rebuild and recover."

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