CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Heavy rainfall has once again touched down throughout West Virginia.
The National Weather Service has issued Flash Flood Warnings in Boone, Fayette, Kanawha, and Raleigh counties through 2 p.m. Sunday. Barbour, Doddridge, Harrison, Lewis, Taylor and Upshur counties were under warnings through 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
Alan Coberly, on-air personality with MetroNews affiliate WDNE in Elkins, reported that emergency crews responded to two calls in Barbour County about potential entrapment Sunday morning.
The first response for entrapment turned out not to be true, Coberly said.
“Between the fire department and the McDonald’s for a report of people trapped in a home, which turned out to be unfounded,” Coberly said. “A bystander, or somebody, drove by; thought they saw some people that couldn’t get out. It turned out that they could get in and out of their house fine.”
As of late Sunday morning, crews were still trying to get into a Mud Gut Road residence north of Belington.
Coberly said that the state Division of Highways (DOH) took action as well.
“The state road has closed multiple roads in Barbour County, most of them are county roads,” Coberly reported. “There is some, like Route 92 has some areas that are underwater, same with Route 57.”
He said the county has gotten 2-to-3 inches of rain so far, with intermittent rain expected to continue through Monday morning. Coberly noted that Barbour County has been hit hard with rain over the past month and residents are hoping to avoid a similar outcome this time.
In Kanawha County, Kanawha County Emergency Management Director C.W. Sigman and his crews have been busy.
“We’ve had some heavy flooding, mostly in the Cabin Creek area, there’s some flooding on Paint Creek,” Sigman said. “We’ve had some several people asked for assistance getting out of their homes. We’ve had several people driving in the high water. Not a ton of calls, but still some calls.”
Sigman encouraged people to stay safe.
“Especially if you’re on Cabin Creek, for right now, if you’re safe and feel like you’re going to be safe, stay in your home,” Sigman advised. “Don’t try to go across this water. If you’re in a safe environment, stay in that safe environment.”
He said there are water rescue teams in that area trying to access those who need help. Additionally, he noted the proper alerts have been put out throughout the county.
“(I) saw people some people on Cabin Creek Road who were travelers from out of state,” Sigman said. “(They) stopped at the flood, got out and was walking in the water. Evidently, they don’t have flooding in their home area but get out of the water. You don’t need to be wading in that water — that’s a good way to get yourself drowned.”