FOLLANSBEE, W.Va. — Workers in Follansbee were out early on Friday morning to start clearing mud and debris from the Brooke County city’s Main Street a day after flash flooding that followed heavy rain.
“It was a very quick downpour with a lot of volume,” said Follansbee City Manager John DeStefano.
That was the case elsewhere in the Mountain State as well.
Unofficial rain total reports to the National Weather Service showed more than two inches of rain fell on parts of northern and north central West Virginia during storms on Thursday afternoon and evening.
In some localized cases, rain totals neared or topped three inches.
High water and downed trees were reported in communities that included Harrisville, Pennsboro, Dellslow, Cameron, Pentress and Marland Heights.
In Follansbee, DeStefano said runoff from the Hooverson Heights area overwhelmed a problem drain in Follansbee which caused flooding on a section of Route 2, Follansbee’s Main Street.
The water had receded by Friday morning.
DeStefano said the state Division of Highways was responsible for the drain.
“The area gets filled up with debris — tree branches, shale, rocks, whatever can wash down a hillside does,” he said. “For a while after the 2016 event that we had, they did a really good job of keeping this clean. Lately, it has not had much attention to it.”
Repeat rounds of heavy rain caused flooding in Follansbee in July 2016.
As of late Friday morning, more than 1,000 homes and businesses in Brooke County did not have power.
Mon Power had indicated it would be late Friday before most service was restored.
The outages were largely outside of Follansbee.
Drier weather was in the forecast for much of the Mountain State on Friday and Saturday.
Additional afternoon showers and thunderstorms were possible early next week ahead of the possible arrival of the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry, the storm system that was expected to come ashore on the Louisiana Gulf Coast by Saturday morning.
What Barry would look like by the middle of next week was not clear as of Friday morning.