HUNTINGTON, W. Va. –The thunderstorms that began Wednesday evening and lasted through Thursday morning, brought flooding to many West Virginia counties and cities, including Huntington in Cabell County.
Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell says that the areas that got the most flooding was Enslow Park, North Boulevard and Westmoreland.
He says the Enslow area is known to flood when it downpours.
“Enslow Park is known for having a flooding issue, particularly caused by flash floods, and that’s what this looks like it was and that’s been a problem for a long time,” Farrell said at a media briefing Thursday afternoon.
Enslow Park saw flooding from a creek that was nearby. That creek also flooded the intersection of Hal Greer Boulevard and Washington Boulevard, which caused crews to shut down part of Washington Boulevard for a short period of time.
Farrell said that crews were quick on the scene to assist residents.
“Our firefighters were the first on the scene, Deputy chief and his team responding over at Enslow Park,” he said. “That obviously came with a lot of attention and urgency to make sure that people were safe, thankfully everyone that we know has been safe, there property has been damaged, but the people are safe.”
One Huntington resident, Ken Allen, has lived in the area all his life.
He said that he isn’t surprised by the flooding at Ritter Park or the Enslow area.
“It’s been like this, I’ve seen it like this before, it’s nothing really new to me because I’ve seen it flood here before this all the way over past the parking lot and to the field and everything. It’s going to happen when we get these big storms like this,”
Another resident of the area, says that in the one year he has lived in Huntington, he hasn’t seen it flood terribly.
“Well, not even that bad. I mean you know, there’s been some flooding, but it hasn’t been horrendous,” he said.
Farrell said that there was a couple of things that he is going to work on in order to help prevent flooding like again for anyone who has been affected by flooding.
He wants to make sure that the city has a better alert system, wants to make another way out for the residents in Enslow and wants to make sure that they catch runoff before it hits streams and creeks.
He says he wants to do this so the residence in Enslow can finally have some relief from flooding.
“Unfortunately, the folks in Enslow Park, it’s not the first time, so there’s fatigue, they are looking for and hoping for answers on how we fix this thing long term. I think it’s something we deal with, it’s like any other trauma, you have to first lick your wounds, make sure everyone’s safe and from there you can build and make things better,” he said. “I think we have a responsibility to help them fix that, so they don’t have to keep on experiencing that trauma.”
Another thing he pointed out was the flood walls that Huntington has, saying that they are old and need updated and that them not doing their job could have contributed to the flooding.
He also said that with flooding still forecasted because of the Ohio River to crest at 43.4 feet, the city has to activate their flood pump stations like they did when the area got ice and snowstorm in early January.
“And we’re going to have to do it again tonight because the river is coming back up above flood stages, so I think we’re going to put seven stations in this evening where those gates will close,” Farrell said.
These stations are to help prevent river water getting into the city and to help pump out water into the river. Those stations will be set up at 13th Street, Fourpole Creek, Pat’s Branch, 7th Street West, Krout Creek, 11th Street, and 22nd Street West.
Farrell says that this happening is horrible for everyone effected.
He says that we need to make sure that people know that this is a place where they are safe.
“It’s just sad right when people invest their lives into a home, there memories are there and it all gets taken away, or its all been damaged it’s really a problem,” Farrell said. “It’s the reason we have to invest in our infrastructure to make sure that this is a place that people know they can invest, and live and work and grow and feel safe.”
He also said that the city is having kits brought to them in order to help people clean up the mud and debris that was left behind from the floods.
Cabell County Emergency Services Director Gordon Merry mentioned, at the media conference with Farrell, that there was a portal on their website that residences can go and report damages.
Impacted residents are encouraged to report damages through this survey: bit.ly/WVDamageAssessment