BOB WHITE, W.Va. — Along Route 85 in Boone County there are visible indications of the force of the high water from Pond Fork. The stream left banks Monday night and early Tuesday morning and caused multiple problems for residents up and down the creek.
“I was asleep and the neighbor called and let me know that the yard was full of water. By the time I got outside, all the dogs were swimming and it had become a serious issue to say the least,” said Eric Eversoll as he took a break from cleaning up his home at Bob White.
Eversoll, like many had close to a foot of water in his house which destroyed a lot of his belongings.
“A lot of lawn care equipment, basically anything I had stored in an out building or on the first floor of my house was destroyed,” he explained.
His wife and in-laws helped pressure wash the mud away and haul soaked items to a growing debris pile in the front yard to be hauled away.
Further up the road Charles and Marcella Everson were tackling their garage with about three inches of mud in the floor.
“It turned over the freezer,” said Marcella.
Charles looked over all of his soaked belongings and wondered what he could salvage. A riding lawnmower refused to start and his push mower had been completely submerged and out of sight in the flood water several hours earlier.
“Our heat pump is on the other side of the house. I glanced back there and it looked like it had mud up the side. It’s going to be a while,” he said.
The community of Bim had several homes wiped out. The further you travelled on Route 85, the worse things looked. All along the road, mud caked the highway from rockslides or standing water from the river which left its banks and blocked the road in multiple locations during the night.
“My place has mud about knee deep. It ruined everything. There ain’t no saving it,” said Timmy White who had taken up a shovel and was helping a neighbor.
“I figure everything I have is gone, I might as well try to help somebody else,” White said.
At Wharton, a bridge which was the only access for about six homes was washed out. Victims had to use a railroad trestle, covered in debris, to escape their homes as waters rose.
Even those at the Van-Wharton Volunteer Fire Department weren’t spared. While the department was out on two separate calls providing swiftwater rescue the water creped in their front door. They soon learned their own fire station had more than a foot of standing water in the bays. Despite the setback, Fire Chief Mark White said they are prepared should the be needed.
“We had a little over 18 inches of water, now we’ve got about three inches of mud,” he explained. “We’re available though. We’ve put together enough equipment to serve our community.”