CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia National Guard has finished the mission of flood relief in Boone County. Governor Patrick Morrisey activated the Guard Monday to perform debris removal in the areas of Boone County where high water caused major damage.
“We were all throughout Bob White, Wharton, and Van, but it was all spread out. Pretty much along Route 85 and Route 17 were the main areas,” said Captain Michael Garcia of the National Guard.
The detail consisted of about 30 guard members operating dump trucks and skid-steer loaders to manage the debris piles. Flood victims had torn out furniture, carpet, heating and cooling duct work, and numerous personal belongings all piled in soaked piles along the highway for pickup.
“We had 90 dump truck loads to the debris pile which totaled approximately 430 tons in and around Boone County, ” Garcia said.
The Guard mission involved picking up the debris and transferring it to a central location. Local authorities will manage it from there.
The Guard finished up the mission Friday morning.
Governor Patrick Morrisey still has a state of emergency in effect for Boone, Raleigh, and Logan Counties from the June 22-23 high water event. Boone County was the only one who requested National Guard Assistance.
Boone County emergency managers project the high water impacted 190 homes in some capacity. A dozen of those homes were destroyed and another dozen had large scale damage.