BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — Residents and officials are continuing to assess the damage created by an estimated 2.25 inches of rain in 25 minutes Monday.
On WAJRs’ “Talk of the Town,” Bridgeport Director of Emergency Management Tim Curry said the heavy, repeated rain events have swept across the region thanks to the El Niño weather phenomenon.
“What I have read says it slows those storms down as they move east and they all stack up together,” Curry said. “So, we get more rain over a shorter period of time because the storms are stacking up together.”
On the evening of the rain event, Simpson Creek rose to the point that water almost entered the Main Street Fire Station. Waters from the creek did flood Wayne Jamison Field and other facilities at Bridgeport High School. Multiple water rescues were conducted, and the mutual aid network in the county was also activated.
“There were initially some concerns about one of the local dams, but we had it inspected, and it was functioning exactly the way it was supposed to,” Curry said. “It just had never been that high that it was spilling over the top like that.”
The Monday storm washed out Tuesday classes at all Harrison County schools, but Wednesday classes did get underway. Curry said it was the work of several volunteers that got the school ready for students once again.
“Thanks to the work of a lot of volunteers, they were able to get back to school today,” Curry said. “We’re still assessing damages.”
Now the damage assessment phase begins. Curry said they are encouraging residents to contact public officials with any questions.
“There are 98 damage assessments filled out right now,” Curry said. “If you do have damage, please visit the city of Bridgeport Facebook page or the Harrison County Commission Facebook page; any of those are a good place to find that damage survey.”
While the residential damage assessments are being collected, Curry and his team will be working to assess infrastructure and other public damage. The damage surveys are vital to being able to access federal aid to continue the storm recovery.
“We’re just looking through the damage assessments and going from there,” Curry said. “As we gather data that all plays into whether or not we have enough for a disaster declaration to get FEMA involved.”