CLENDENIN, W.Va. — Clendenin Fire Chief Kevin Clendenin says when he looks back on assisting in the rescue missions from the recent devastating flood waters that hit Southern West Virginia, there’s no way it can’t tug on his heart strings.
There were a total of 135 reported swiftwater rescues performed throughout the Southern Coalfields region over the course of last weekend after the Tug Fork River and various other tributaries flooded their banks.
The Tug Fork had reportedly crested at 49 feet in Williamson in Mingo County on Sunday– the second highest it has ever been.
Clendenin said crews from the Clendenin Volunteer Fire Department, Glasgow VFD, Ripley, Charleston and South Charleston VFDs, along with the West Virginia National Guard all linked up and deployed to Southern West Virginia to assist with rescues Saturday night when the rainfall was at its peak.
He said they didn’t get down to the hardest-impacted flooding areas of McDowell and Mingo counties until about midnight.
Clendenin said when they got there, water was everywhere, making it a challenge to reach people.
“A lot of roads were blocked, we tried to go to the town of Oceana and we met up with DNR units over there, roads were impassable, so we made contacts to check on some local residents that just needed well-fare checks,” Clendenin said.
He said they then pulled back to Jesse, West Virginia in Wyoming County and stayed with units there until the sun came up on Sunday morning.
Clendenin said the communities there were grateful to see the outside help that had arrived the following morning as they tried to navigate getting around in the high waters.
“There were so many roads that were closed by water and mudslides and just different things, so there was a lot of rerouting going on,” he said. “We also linked up with West Virginia State Police in the area and they guided us on most of our travels from town to town and you know, how to get there.”
Around 45 roads in the area were known to have been closed.
Clendenin said his teams worked with some of the other EMS crews on the tragic scene in Welch after Donald and Debbie Griffin, both 69, of Welch and their 2-year-old grandchild were swept away in the flood waters.
He said they are now working tirelessly there to make sure there were no other tragic fatalities such as that one.
“When we did some interviews with some eye-witnesses, it just breaks your heart to listen to their stories, so we’re doing some wide area searches in the town of Welch to try to make sure that the people who have been affected that we have them accounted for,” he said.
Governor Patrick Morrisey had previously stated in a media briefing Thursday that they don’t believe there are any other people known to be missing.
However, first responders are going around door-to-door to check on people throughout McDowell and Mingo counties, and state police are flying drones around those areas to see where assistance may be needed.
Clendenin said taking the topography of that area into account and the steep terrain that surrounds the communities of Southern West Virginia, it creates a situation where water can easily just penetrate.
“There’s just no where for the water to go, when you get that much rain in that short amount of time and the terrain is like it is, and then, by the water coming up, it cuts off the normal path of travel that people are used to taking,” Clendenin said.