WHEELING, W.Va. — The body of an eighth victim was recovered Wednesday morning in connection with the devastating flash flooding in and around Wheeling.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey released the information in a Wednesday morning news briefing in Wheeling.
“Eight people are confirmed dead in Ohio County. It’s an unidentified male,” Morrisey said.
Wheeling-Ohio County Emergency Manager Lou Vargo said the man was not on the list of unaccounted residents that authorities have been working from. Vargo said they thought this may happen as the recovery efforts continued.
“We all knew that even though we had eight there would be people that were never witnessed in the water and that’s what I believe law enforcement are dealing with now. We have an additional victim,” Vargo said.
State police are working on identifying the man’s body.
Morrisey and Vargo said authorities are still looking for a woman who was seen in the raging waters Saturday night.
“We believe there’s one unaccounted for. I think as Lou was mentioning that this was based on the list they had put together where people saw folks who were in the water. That doesn’t mean there can’t be other individuals,” Morrisey said.
Governor Morrisey Issues Updates on State Flood Response
https://t.co/8sUqrvYC3o— Governor Patrick Morrisey (@wvgovernor) June 18, 2025
Morrisey met with various state, county and municipal representatives Wednesday morning for a roundtable discussion on recovery efforts.
Vargo said it’s important for flood victims to fill out the Individual Assistance Damage Survey no matter how big or small the waters damaged their homes and property. He said the information will help determine whether the area is considered for a federal disaster declaration from FEMA. He said he’s hopeful the county will receive both public and individual assistance.
Vargo said flood victims can ask others to fill others to fill out the surveys for them or call 211 for help. He said teams on ATVs would be heading into the harder to reach areas beginning Wednesday afternoon to help impacted residents complete the damage survey information.
Morrisey said the more the information that’s studied on the amount of rain, the more it looks like something you couldn’t have prepared for.
“That level of rain that dropped in a 40-minute period and how quickly the water rose it’s hard to prevent and guard against that. What you want to do is to engage in smart prevention,” Morrisey said.
Vargo said he can’t say enough about the partnership that has responded to the disaster.
“It’s a great team, a great team from local, the city, Valley Grove, Triadelphia, the state, great support from the county commission and our first responders are coming together–we are strong,” Vargo said.
Please fill this out ASAP if impacted by flooding. https://t.co/aIrmsrAVHs pic.twitter.com/W7FoY6QtvD
— Wheeling, WV Fire (@WheelingFD) June 18, 2025
Other updates during Wednesday’s briefing:
–more than 50 vehicles have been removed from the floodwaters with more work to do.
–the West Virginia National Guard continues to help with clean-up. A temporary dump site has been established at the Highlands
State Adjutant General Jim Seward said a focal point is U.S. Route 40 in the Triadelphia area. He asked motorists to choose another route if possible.
“They’re (Guard members/DOH) are trying to focus on small sectors at a time to try and alleviate the traffic congestion where they are working but if you can stay off of that road it would be incredibly helpful,” Seward said.
–the state DOH has approximately 20 roads and a number of bridges that will need attention now and into the future
“We have a couple of roads that we have significant damage on. We have 15 right now that we have repairs that we’ll have to do on,” DOH District 3 Manager Mike Daley said. “Our highest priority route will be repaired first but we’ll go to each one of those locations.”
–the state DEP is also working on a number of projects in the area, Morrisey said.
Anyone with information about a missing resident should call 304-234-3695.
The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department can be reached at 304-234-3682..
Questions about information about supplies should be directed to 304-234-7109.