CHARLESTON, W.Va. –The West Virginia Conservation Agency is asking residents in the 13 counties that were impacted by the recent flooding to report any debris blockages in streams so they can come to the area and clear it up if needed.
Davin White, Communications Specialist for WVCA, says that they are mainly on the lookout for any blocked streams that pose a threat to people’s houses, yards or even the roads.
“Particularly we’re looking at blockages that are restricting stream flow,” White said. “It might be backing up into people’s yards, diverting onto roadways, threatening homes or other properties. Those are ones that we always look to evaluate and see if we can remove it (debris).”
Since the flooding wrecked through the Southern counties, WVCA technicians have been on site looking at streams and logging what they see and what streams need to be cleared up.
However, White said that while there able to get to these streams, they rely heavily on residents to give them a call and tell them about streams that are in areas that they either haven’t been to yet or streams that are not on the main road.
“That’s where we rely on help from the public to call us and let us know hey, we have a blockage here, you know it’s restricting stream flow in this area and wanted to see if you all could check it,” he said.
Right now, Boone, Cabell, Greenbrier, Kanawha, Lincoln, Logan, Mercer, McDowell, Mingo, Raleigh, Summers, Wayne and Wyoming counties are still under a state of emergency from Governor Patrick Morrisey, as they continue to assess damages and clean up.
White said these counties are eligible for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program.
“That comes into play when we have emergency situations like what we’re dealing with right now,” he said.
These counties have been under this emergency since February 15.
While technicians are out every day working on clearing up streams, he said it’s difficult to say how many streams are affected right now.
“So, right now it’s hard to say, although I can say it is a dynamic number, it’s sitting at 30 right now and we expect it to fluctuate as areas are cleaned up and new ones are identified,” White said.
If you think that a stream in your area may be blocked by debris, you can contact the WVCA in your area:
-Boone, Cabell, Lincoln, Logan, Mingo and Wayne counties are within the Guyan Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 528-5718 or gcd@wvca.us.
-Mercer, McDowell, Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming counties are within the Southern Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 253-0261 or scd@wvca.us.
-Kanawha County is within the Capitol Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 759-0736 or ccd@wvca.us.
-Greenbrier County is within the Greenbrier Valley Conservation District, which can be reached at: (304) 645-6173 or gvcd@wvca.us.
For additional information you can go to www.wvca.us.