Kanawha County officials said an emergency management action plan has been put together to help with recovery following a devastating flood that ripped through the county, damaging an estimated 100 homes.
The action plan is for the Hughes Creek, Kellys Creek, Rutledge Road and Campbells Creek areas, according to a news release Tuesday from the county commission.
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has declared a state of emergency in Kanawha and Fayette counties after as much as 6 inches of rain pounded the areas between Sunday night and Monday morning.
Under the plan, flood debris should be placed by the road off private property for pickup. Dump trucks will travel the areas, picking up the debris from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. through Sunday, Aug. 21, and may continue as needed.
Employees with the Emergency Management and the Planning Office will go to the affected areas to complete damage assessments on personal property.
Volunteer efforts and donations for victims also will be coordinated, county officials said.
Eyewitness News Reporter Bob Aaron was in the Campbells Creek Drive area of Kanawha County early Tuesday afternoon, where water was still roaring off the hillside. View the video below or click here if you are on a mobile device.
On Bravo Road in the Campbells Creek area, seven homes were isolated after flooding washed out the roadthat is now unsuable by vehicles.
Meanwhile, linemen's repair work in the Campbells Creek area was being complicated by a mudslide.
Private bridges in the Point Lick area of Kanawha County also were damaged by the raging floodwater.
Anyone who has damage to personal property due to the flooding is asked to report the damage to the Kanawha County Planning and Development Office by calling 304-357-0570.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said the county has $250,000 set aside in an emergency response fund for situations such as this, and county officials are prepared to “use these funds for debris management to help our affected citizens.”
“We do not have federal funding right now to help with this, but we will do everything we can to help our citizens, regardless of whether we receive reimbursement from the federal government,” Carper said.
Commissioner Ben Salango said that communities have suffered greatly, and the county must provide them with resources to remove the flood debris from their homes as quickly as possible.
Salango said if a disaster declaration occurred based on damage assessments, he said if will insist that a Federal Emergency Management Agency office is set up in the affected areas “so the residents can easily access the resources.”
On Tuesday, members of the Riverside High School football team stepped up to help a youth football team whose facilities were damaged in the flooding. The players were cleaning up and trying to salvage what they could.
Riverside player Andrew Baria, a senior, said his teammates wanted to provide as much assistance to community members as they could.
“That’s really important because they are the ones coming to the game. They are the ones paying to see us play,” Baria said. “That’s money out of their pocket each year, so I figure we could give back to them every once in a while.”