CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Flood recovery and damage assessment in rural Harrison County continue as more rain falls across the region.
Harrison County Commissioner Patsy Trecost said whenever an emergency strikes you’ll see multiple agencies pulling together along with neighbors helping neighbors and, in many cases, strangers helping strangers.
“We’re really working together with DOH District 4 at the state level, the counties, and all of the municipalities,” Trecost said on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.” “It’s really rewarding to see.”
Residents that have suffered any kind of damage are asked to go to the Harrison County Facebook page or website to find the damage assessment form and fill it out. That running total of damage assessments in the coming days will determine the level of assistance members of the community can expect.
“We’re working with FEMA,” Trecost said. “People should go to the county website and fill out the application, keep us informed, and that way we can possibly get the help we need from all levels.”
Reestablishing ditches and removing debris are the important operations as crews work to make some infrastructure repairs and restore power. Trescost said state and local agencies are working with residents just about as quickly as they can.
“We’ve already begun the process of cleaning out ditches, removing trees, and restoring power,” Trecost said. “Everything is happening the way it’s supposed to.”
The recovery effort this week has been hampered by uncertain weather conditions that in some cases create more issues to address.
“New trees fall that bring new power outages,” Trecost said. “It varies, but we’re doing our best to work with the power company and keep our residents informed.”
The saturation of the ground is the biggest concern. Forecasters said a localized rainfall event of an inch could trigger flash flooding depending on the terrain and area of the county.
“Today, we’re watching the forecast diligently,” Trecost said. “Because we know this ground is completely saturated and we don’t have the relief we totally need for this water to travel where it needs to.”