Heavy rain across Appalachia has led to water rescues, mudslides, road closures and power outages, officials said.
Following prolonged steady rain totaling 3 to 4 inches Sunday and Monday, flooding hit some areas that were ravaged by power outages from ice storms last month. Floodwaters inundated roads in more than a dozen counties, highways officials said. The National Guard assisted with some evacuations Sunday night in the Dunlow area of Wayne County.
A water rescue also was made Sunday on Peach Ridge Road in Putnam County after a man attempted to drive through flood water, according to Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards.
“Around 11:10 a.m. Sunday, Hurricane Fire & Rescue was called to Peach Ridge Road to rescue a gentleman from his vehicle,” Edwards said. “His family had told him to not to attempt it, but he didn’t listen. He quickly became stuck in the flowing and quickly rising waters.”
Edwards said within 15 minutes of arriving on the scene the water had risen approximately 12 inches.
“Our rescue crews were able to remove the man safely from the vehicle with no injuries,” Edwards said.
Edwards said the man told them it was his son’s birthday and after being without power for 12 days he just wanted him to have Gino’s pizza and some Kentucky Fried Chicken.
“He said he knew better, but wanted his son to have a good birthday,” Edwards said. “I guess we can all understand, but it is not worth risking your life or the lives of first responders that come to rescue you.”
Edwards said the man was sent home, but Hurricane Fire Chief Deron Wilkes wanted to make sure the child got his special birthday meal.
“Deron goes and picks up the food items requested, drives the long way around the water and then had to continue on foot to get this birthday meal to him,” the mayor explained. “That’s an amazing story.”
Wilkes said he is a parent and just wanted to do anything he could to help.
“If it was my kid’s birthday I would do everything I could, so I thought I can easily fix this by just driving the long way around to get him his special birthday meal,” Wilkes said.
Edwards said several other roads in the county remain under flood waters. He said W.Va. 34 at the Putman/Lincoln county line is impassable and the mayor is urging motorists to make safety a priority.
“Turn around and do not drive through roads covered with flood water,” he said. “If you can’t see the road then you don’t know how deep it is or if the road has been washed out. Even if you think you know the road it could be much deeper or more dangerous than you think.”
In Cabell County, a dispatcher said Monday many roads remained under water.
“There are several dozen roads throughout the county that flooded in part,” the dispatcher said.
West Mud River Road at Zoar Church in Milton was reported as being under water as well as several other roads in the town. There were reports on Monday that residents from East Mud River Road were being evacuated.
No injuries have been reported, the dispatcher said.
B.J. Willis, Wayne County director of emergency services, said sporadic flooding has made it hard to reach isolated regions of the county such as Dunlow, where they know there is flooding.
In those situations, Willis said local fire departments initiate communication and relay that information back up the chain of command. A swift-water rescue team was formed and stationed Sunday night but never deployed into action after contact was made with residents who were stranded by flooding but didn’t feel in danger.
“We’re still in rescue mode, but the water is going down quickly in some of those areas. Sometimes it’s not as simple as putting a boat in the water and going from Point A to Point B because it’s probably not covered with water the whole way,” Willis said.
Willis said one high-wheeled, military-style vehicle was used to navigate through areas with high waters but no rescues had to be made overnight or into Monday.
In Boyd County, Kentucky, a dispatcher with 911 said the water began to recede from roads on Monday.
“We had a few cars get stuck, but they were able to get out of the vehicles to safety on their own, so there were no rescues needed by our first responders or no reports of injuries,” the dispatcher said.
But a number of roads in Boyd and Greenup counties remained covered in spots at 11 a.m. Monday, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency due to heavy rainfall across Kentucky.
“We are acting swiftly to ensure the safety and security of Kentucky families and to get the needed help to our communities,” he said in a statement. He said 13 counties and cities had declared states of emergency and the Kentucky National Guard was activated and was assisting with high water emergencies.
Some schools, including those in Cabell and Putnam counties, were closed to in-person learning or delayed classes due to flooding concerns and about 18,000 customers were without power in Kentucky and West Virginia, according to poweroutage.us, a utility tracking service.
As of Monday evening, Cabell, Lincoln and Mingo counties had announced their students would remain home for remote learning Tuesday as well.
According to the National Weather Service, the Ohio River at Huntington will crest at 50.3 feet at 7 a.m. Wednesday — 7 feet higher than what was recorded at noon Monday.
According to the NWS, the river rose about 10 feet in the 24-hour period ending at noon Monday to 42.5 feet on the gauge. At 50 feet, it will be near the level at which its water will be over W.Va. 2 at Glenwood, just across the county line in Mason County, and near the level that would cover Riverside Drive in Guyandotte and encroach on U.S. 60 East in Huntington.
"heavy" - Google News
March 02, 2021 at 07:30AM
https://ift.tt/3b6OU82
Heavy rains lead to rescues, road closures in the region - Huntington Herald Dispatch
"heavy" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35FbxvS
https://ift.tt/3c3RoCk
heavy
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Heavy rains lead to rescues, road closures in the region - Huntington Herald Dispatch"
Post a Comment