GRAFTON, W.Va. — As flood recovery efforts continue throughout North Central West Virginia and the Northern Panhandle, some counties are more fortunate in their cleanup.
Taylor County is one of eight counties under a state of emergency after the weekend’s devastating floods, but Taylor County Sheriff’s Cpt. Randy Durrett said damage was limited to mostly road closures.
“Some traffic in areas had been blocked, and I know the Department of Highways had to put up high water signs in several spots in the county, for everybody’s safety so they wouldn’t also drive through the water and get washed away,” Durrett said.
Durrett said cleanup began almost immediately, as crews worked to keep Taylor County residents as safe as possible.
“There were several trees down blocking the roads, and the fire departments were excellent to clear the roadways for the people,” he said. “We didn’t have any fatalities or injuries due to the flood.”
As storms moved through the area Friday night into Saturday, significant rainfall was felt only by individual areas of the county, Durrett said.
“A lot of the area that was affected was basically out in the west part of the county toward Harrison County,” he said. “At one point, we did have 2,200 people in Taylor County, without power, basically in the northern part of the county toward Monongalia County.”
Durrett said Taylor County was fortunate to not see as severe of damage as other North Central West Virginia counties.
“All of our roads are open now, and I believe we do not have any customers without power,” he said. “Luckily, we have Tygart Dam here, which helps control a lot of the flooding.”