WINIFREDE HOLLOW, W.Va. — Kanawha County resident Leon Knapp teared up when thinking back how members of his son’s Riverside High School baseball team showed up at his home Monday in Winifrede Hollow to help clean up after the devastating flash flood.
“We didn’t call them they just came,” Knapp said with his voice breaking up. “They knew help was needed and they showed up.”
Knapp said the help for Winifrede residents has been overwhelming. He said Blackhawk Mining and other companies have helped out. Knapp considers himself fortunate. He said others have suffered much worse.
“We were blessed. We lost stuff but we’ve got each other and our home is intact,” Knapp said.
Knapp and a handful of other Winifrede residents met with Gov. Jim Justice at the Winifrede Community Church Thursday afternoon. The governor was getting his first look at the most recent flood to hit the Mountain State.
“All of these folks have joined their hands together and helped one another–that’s us. That’s just what we do,” Justice said.
There’s a hive of activity at the church with donations of cleaning supplies neatly separated and donations of clothes spread out on round tables in the church gym.
Knapp and others expressed concern to Gov. Justice about the shape of Fields Creek after the flood. They wondered if their homes could face further flooding because there’s now lots of debris in the creek including numbers of fallen trees. Justice said the answers aren’t easy when it comes to creeks. He said the state DEP would take a look.
Justice and others are urging residents to fill out damage reports that are available online through the state Department of Homeland Security.
“We have got to get every single person—I don’t care if their bicycle washed away. We’ve got to get every single person to fill these out because this is our ticket some way to get to FEMA. If we don’t have everyone fill this out we won’t get there. These are really important,” Justice said.
Justice said he’s hopeful for federal assistance but admitted there may not be the numbers to qualify. He said the state would keep pushing FEMA as hard as possible.
“That’s the only choice we have. When it’s really tough you just suck it up and someway, somehow catch another gear and that’s what these people are doing here but it’s really tough, really tough,” Justice said.
Justice said as he drove up Winifrede Hollow he turned to a staff member riding along with him and said the memories of the 2016 flood immediately came to mind.
“It brought back memory after memory after memory,” Justice said.
More than 10 inches of rain fell in a narrow area of Kanawha County in less than 36 hours. No deaths or injuries have been reported.
The Kanawha County Commission released a report Thursday afternoon of the initial flood damage numbers. The Kanawha County Emergency Management team have begun conducting 1-2-3 Surveys for the flood victims.
The following information relates only to damaged homes:
- 2 Homes Destroyed
- 15 Homes Sustained Major Damage
- 33 Homes Sustained Minor Damage
- 28 Homes Affected
- 2 Homes Unaffected
- 7 Homes Inaccessible
- 16 Homes Not Determined