MCMECHEN, W.Va. — A year ago this week, a Marshall County city resembled a “war zone” for one of the many people from across West Virginia and other parts of the U.S. responding to damaging flash flooding in McMechen that came out of repeat storms.
“You saw the National Guard trucks driving down the street. You saw all of people’s belongings, their memories, sitting out in front of their yards,” remembered Stacie Dei, executive director of the Marshall County Family Resource Network
“It was just one of those moments that it was quiet and loud — all at the same time.”
The first of two rounds of strong storms hit West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle starting on July 23.
Just days later, on July 28 and into July 29, additional flooding followed in that area and other parts of northern West Virginia.
Along with McMechen, the hardest hit communities included Hundred and Mannington.
On Friday night to mark the anniversary, several organizations planned a celebration from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at McMechen Riverfront Park to mark the progress made in flood recovery in the year since the storms.
However, Dei said flood recovery continued.
“It still exists. It’s still happening. People are still recovering,” she told MetroNews. “People are still reliving the trauma of those few days.”
In Marshall County, more than 360 homes were damaged, with 55 of those homes reporting “major damage” or complete destruction, according to the state Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
City buildings were damaged when the three streams that run through McMechen overflowed their banks due to heavy rain that, in some cases, was coming down at a rate of more than five inches per hour.
Dei was involved in the immediate volunteer response and her organization has since transitioned with others to becoming part of the 2017 Flood Long-Term Recovery Committee in Marshall County.
“People just helped,” she said. “People walked in and they had been flooded too, but they came in to help their neighbor who had gotten it worse.”
Along with Dye’s group, other organizations signed on for the duration of flood recovery and for Friday’s celebration were the City of McMechen, Appalachian Outreach, the United Way of the Upper Ohio Valley, Catholic Charities and the Community Foundation of the Ohio Valley.
“It just makes me proud to live here,” Dei said.
“I know that it’s unique to West Virginia that we care about each other in the way that we do and the way that we respond to each other and I think that that’s something that is extremely valuable.”