CLENDENIN, W.Va. — Ten years after the massive 2016 flood, the town of Clendenin in Kanawha County is still recovering. Mayor Kay Summers looks at it more as a rebirth than a recovery.
“Before the flood, Clendenin was starting to slip. Back in the day it was a very successful, wealthy town and things had started going down even before the flood. But out of something bad, a lot of good came,” said Summers in an appearance on 580-Live with Dave Allen on 580-WCHS Radio.
It wasn’t a quick bounce back, but Summers said you can definitely feel a different energy in the town today.
“We got a new Herbert Hoover High School; it took seven years go get in there. We got a new Clendenin Elementary, both of those were old, old, old and we were using duct tape to keep them together. We got a new grocery store. We’re cleaning up the river. We’re tearing down old houses and building a lot of new houses,” she said.
Ironically, much of the town’s new identity focuses on the Elk River and enjoyment of the resource which almost killed the town. Kayak rentals are strong. The town now touts itself as a river recreation location.
Summers wasn’t the mayor when the flood struck, but she was one of the victims. She had eight feet of water in her home the night of the 2016 event but tries not to dwell on what was lost.
“A lot of things broken and a lot of things lost, but I don’t want to look in the rearview mirror anymore. We’re going to talk about the future because that’s where we are and it’s taken us 10 years to get here,” she said.
Clendenin Fire Chief Jacob Clendin said the fire department is a strong as ever thanks to the help of a lot of other departments and volunteers who came into the town and helped out. This weekend, they’ll pay tribute to all of those who helped with their first ever First Responder Appreciation parade on Friday night.
“We’re really trying to thank everyone that came to our assistance emergency responder wise. We had so much help, 30 plus fire departments, EMS,. And law enforcement came out ot help us. We just want to show them appreciation,” said Clendenin.
Saturday, the Clendenin VFD will hold its first ever open house.
“We’re celebrating 75 years of service to Clendenin and the community,” he said.