RAGLAND, W.Va. — One house was destroyed, another damaged and coal cars knocked off the tracks in Mingo County Friday morning following a powerful mudslide caused by the failure of a sediment ditch berm at a nearby coal operation, according to state regulators.
“About 4:30 this morning I heard a big boom back up on the mountain and I looked and there was all kinds of mud coming down,” said Ragland resident Sarah Jackson in an interview with friend Bert Staton.
The force of the mudslide was so strong it flipped three rail cars loaded with coal and spilled the contents onto the track and into Rockhouse Creek. The force also washed out Jackson’s storage building and buried several cars in the mud.
Firefighters were able to rescue several dogs which were trapped under the debris of the houses which piled up on each other along the tracks.
“There was an opening the fire department had to pull the bottom down to get them out,” she said.
The neighbors were not hurt, but according to Jackson they were trapped and couldn’t get in or out of their homes because of the mud and debris.
Although destructive, there were no reports of any injuries in the incident. Emergency crews remain on scene along with railroad cleanup crews.
Later Friday the DEP said a mining operation of Coal-Mac, LLC, was responsible for the slide.
“The WVDEP has issued an Imminent Harm Cessation Order (IHCO) and has required Coal-Mac to immediately open access to the community, get the impacted residents a place to stay, stabilize/ repair the permitted area that caused the slide, and remove all mud and debris from the homes,” the DEP said in Friday afternoon statement. “Equipment has been brought to the site to begin remediation activities and Coal-Mac is in discussions with the affected citizens about temporary housing.”