KEYSER, W.Va. — Governor Patrick Morrisey has declared a state of emergency for Mineral County due to recent flash floods.
Heavy rain has caused flash flooding in Keyser and surrounding areas in Mineral County.
“New Creek has come out of its banks in various locations and we have evacuated some of the streets downtown including Water Street, Harley O. Staggers Drive and a portion of Stony Run,” Mineral County OES Director Luke McKenzie told MetroNews Tuesday afternoon.
The heavy rain started Tuesday morning and didn’t let up, McKenzie said.
“I don’t know that anyone was expecting an event of this magnitude today, but it just started raining this morning and our creeks have been rising rapidly a majority of the day,” McKenzie said.
The National Weather Service had a flash flood warning posted for Mineral County until early Tuesday evening. The weather service also issued flash flood warnings for Boone, Logan, Lincoln, Wyoming and Raleigh counties.
High water and rocks also covered parts of state Route 46 on Tuesday. The DOH was on the scene clearing culverts of debris.
When MetroNews spoke with McKenzie again Tuesday night, he said conditions are improving in some areas and they aren’t reporting any major damage to homes, but there are some basements flooded.
“The water has receded substantially in a couple of places,” McKenzie said. “To the best we can tell, other than flooded basements, we don’t have any major residential damage, but we definitely have some flooded basements.”
While the residential areas went largely unaffected, McKenzie says other structures in the county were hit.
“We do have some damaged roads as well as one of the schools. Our Walmart also has some water in it,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie says all residents appear to be safe.
“To the best of our knowledge, we have zero injuries from the event, and we provided one rescue,” McKenzie said.
According to a release from Governor Morrisey’s office, personnel and resources were ordered to mobilize and respond to any emergency.
McKenzie says, for now, the county’s needs are met.
“We don’t have any unmet needs, so we are not encouraging anyone to donate anything. We are not looking for any kind of assistance like that. We do not have a donations management system set up and we do not have a volunteer management coordination center set up,” McKenzie said.
The state of emergency will be in effect for 30 days unless Governor Morrisey terminates it at an earlier date.
There is a shelter open at Keyser Presbyterian Church for anyone in need.