By: Lydia Crawley
The Parsons Advocate
Tucker County Office of Emergency Management Director Kevin White reported to the Tucker County Commission April 10th that there were no reports of major damage stemming from the April 3rd heavy rains. “We had some flooding last week,” White said. “I have had no reports of major damage to living quarters, like the main story of a house or anything like that.”
White said that damage to basements was excluded from damage assessments, as they are not included in the established guidelines. “Unfortunately, basements don’t count in the damage assessments,” White said. “That’s not something that counts into the guidelines.”
White said most of the damage occurred along roadways and ditch lines. “Most of the damage seems to be to roadways, ditch lines, things like that,” White said.
White said that US 219 had been closed for the majority of April 3rd due to water over the road. “Of course it was really inconvenient,” White said. “We had 219 shut down the biggest part of the day.”
Tucker County wasn’t the only area to be affected, according to White, the storm impacted the entirety of West Virginia, including surrounding counties. “It wasn’t just in Tucker County,” White said. “It was a Statewide event, first and foremost and it was definitely a five counties all the way around us event, too.”
White said that the heavy rainfall was the contributing factor to flooding in the area. White said the region received three to four inches of rain in a 10 hour period. White said the water flowing downhill from higher areas contributed to the high waters surrounding Parsons during the storm. “When you receive three to four inches of rain in about a 10 hour period and you live in the mountains, it goes one place,” White said. “It goes down. Parsons unfortunately is down from everything.”
White said that motorists were able to take alternate routes to avoid the flooded sections of US 219 during the event. “But we got through it,” White said. “There were some alternate routes that were available.”
White said his office had worked with the State to get roads closed and properly signed during the event. “We worked with the State Roads to get road signs closed and things like that,” White said.
Tucker County Commission President Mike Rosenau said that with the storm occurring so early in the spring, many road crews were still in the middle of switching over from winter plowing and had not had the opportunity to properly clean ditches and culverts along roadways yet. “Its early in the spring,” Rosenau said. “So they haven’t had an opportunity yet from the snow plowing into the spring cleanup and stuff to clean ditches and to clean culverts.”
Rosenau thanked White for his diligence in contacting road crews during the event to get crews out to clear blocked water drainage. “With your assistance to reach out to the appropriate people, we got a lot of that taken care of,” Rosenau said. “So for the job that they did, I want to thank them.”
White said the Division of Highways has a plan in place to treat roads. According to White, gravel roads receive more run off and the ditches along gravel roads are cleared every year. White said paved roads get the ditches cleared every three years, unless there is a need. According to White, there is a system to report ditches and areas in need of clearing and maintenance. White also said that he was informed that once reported, the DOH has a seven day period to address the issue. “I have actually spoke with the State road Division of Highways on multiple levels,” White said. “There is a plan in place. It has been in place for many, many years. Roadways get treated in a certain manner, whether it is paved or gravel.”
White said that the rainfall was just too much for the area streams and ditches to handle and the flooding could not have been avoided. “There is nothing that can fix that kind of rain that we received,” White said. “The streams and ditch lines just can’t handle it.”
White said he has faith in what the DOH has been doing to maintain the roads. “I have faith that they will make amends on everything that needs to be done and continue with the programs that have been successful in the past,” White said.
