WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — The flood wall constructed after the 1977 flood at Williamson in Mingo County is credited with saving the city during last weekend’s flood. It’s the second time since it was built the flood wall provided protection from catastrophic damage to the town’s business district.
However, a couple of sections of Williamson are without protection from the rising waters of the Tug Fork River. According to Mayor Mike Casey Fairview and East Williamson were not spared by the rising water.
“I’ve identified probably 80 or so homes that were directly affected by the flood water,” said Casey.
The Tug Fork River left its banks on Sunday and those areas were heavily inundated. Along Corridor G in the Fairview section large propane tanks were all over the highway having floated away from the nearby distributor. Casey said in the Fairview area the water was at least six feet into people’s homes. East Williamson had similar problems. The East Williamson Baptist Church had five feet of water in the basement.
Casey said without the wall, there would have been a much more dire situation for his town.
“No question, here in the west end if we hadn’t had the wall we would have had six or eight feet of water in here,” he explained.
The Mayor was speaking from the Williamson Memorial Fieldhouse which has become a focal point of flood recovery in the region.
“The Fieldhouse has been turned into a county mass distribution center. Individuals and families can come here and get food boxes and water. We’re just a recovery shelter and we do have some folks who are spending the night,” the Mayor said.
The Fieldhouse is also providing information from government agencies for assistance and providing hot meals for victims as well as recovery workers.
Mayor Casey said the Fieldhouse is also where donations can be delivered for distribution to victims.
“I think our biggest need is cleaning supplies. I’m talking bleach, brooms, mops, Lysol, wipes. That’s our greatest need, ” he said.
The Mayor said there has been an outpouring of donated clothing and food items and they had plenty of those items for the time being.