WESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Natural Resources Police are credited with 85 rescues during the first hours of this week’s high water event in Upshur and Lewis Counties.
“Right from the minute the guys got on scene they realized the situation was bad. They started executing some rescues and we didn’t have any equipment on the scene so initially it was all swim and tethered rope rescues,” said Sgt. Dennis Feazell who commands the agency’s swiftwater rescue unit.
During the early hours, the agency feared there were going to be multiple floods to respond, so they didn’t initially commit all resources to Buckhannon and Weston, but eventually it became clear that was where they were most needed.
“The rescued 85 individuals and those rescues vary from just getting people out of flooded houses where they weren’t really in any danger, but they were uncomfortable to if this person isn’t rescued right now, they are going to die,” he added.
A large number of those rescues were people in vehicles. Some had attempted to drive through flooded roadways and the engine stalled out.
Others were much more dramatic. One in particular early on for NRPO Austin Fernett was a daring effort which clearly saved a man’s life.
“He said one of his first ones was an individual with only one leg was swept down the river. He was able to use a tethered swim to swim out and get the individual and pull him back in. There’s no doubt that individual’s life was truly in danger,” he said.
So far there have been no fatalities tied to this week’s flood, but Governor Patrick Morrisey revealed in his Thursday briefing at least two people are unaccounted for. Rescue teams are now searching vehicles which were submerged to make sure nobody was in them. They also are using DNR officers to check many of those vehicles which are still submerged or partially submerged.
“Right now, those vehicles have to be searched. Sometimes as these disasters happen, you don’t know that someone is missing yet,” Feazell explained.
Feazell said they use the agency’s drone team to gather intelligence from above about what they are dealing with. The DNR’s dive team is also in the area now helping search those vehicles which are partially or fully submerged. He added part of the work is to get the vehicles out of the waterway so they don’t become a potential problem in the next high water event.