Flash Flood — Wyoming, West Virginia

2001-07-08 · near East Portion, Wyoming, West Virginia

Event narrative

The first flooding on small headwater streams and runs in Wyoming County occurred around 0900E. This would include such streams as Rockcastle Creek, Cabin Creek, the headwaters of Laurel Creek at Glen Rogers, and Slab Fork near Maben. Flooding in and around Mullens began 1000-1100E, then crested near 1500E. Water was 5 to 9 feet deep in most of the downtown business section. "Totally wiped out" is how the county emergency director described the Mullens business district. Caskets from the local funeral home were seen floating in the streets, by residents trapped in their homes. One death occurred along the Milam Fork in McGraws. Water rose vertically about 12 to 14 feet on this stream. Behind the Milam post office, this headwater stream is normally no more than 5 yards across. A 58 year old woman was in a small wood frame house, when it started to float away. Neighbors had tried to get her to leave previously, but she refused. Her house logged against some trees near a small bridge. The house was then hit by either a mobile home or a double wide house. The floor came out, and she disappeared. Her body was found only about 30 yards downstream, in a neighbors fence. That neighbor said, "I can still see her in that house, by the window, holding her cat". The crest in McGraws was about 4 feet higher than the recent May flood.Destruction to homes, bridges, and roads was widespread along the Laurel Fork, including such communities as Ravencliff, Sabine, Glen Fork, Jesse, and Matheny. A vertical rise of 20 to 25 feet occurred around Matheny. At the junction of the Clear Fork and the Laurel Fork, the low sections of Oceana were flooded. On the main stem of the Guyandotte River, damage occurred along the entire stretch from Mullens through Pineville and Brenton. The crest at Pineville was around 21 feet between 1700 and 1800E. Flood stage is 13 feet. This crest at Pineville was some 39 inches higher than the crest on April 5, 1977. The old steel Pocahontas Fuel Company train trestle at Itman had withstood many a high water. However, the crest on the 8th, sheared the bridge from its northern abutment and pushed it into the south bank. At Baileysville, the vertical rise was 27 feet from a stage around 3.3 feet at dawn, to 30.6 feet around 1900E, or just before dark. In a 5 hour period during the afternoon, the river rose 22.5 feet. The Corps of Engineers R. D. Bailey Dam held back the water. The lake elevation rose 3 feet per hour for 14 hours during Sunday night of July 8 into the 9th. The total rise to the lake elevation was 46 feet. Some 30 to 40 acres of trash also accumulated at the dam. In the flood's aftrermath, no recreational activities were allowed at the lake for over 2 months. Around 200 single family homes and mobile homes were destroyed in Wyoming County. Approximately, 550 homes and mobile homes had major damage. The state condemned at least 365 structures.

Wider weather episode

This episode, on the 8th of July, saw fast moving thunderstorms form along a north/south warm frontal boundary. This boundary marked the division between the dry and less humid air to the east, from the incoming steamy moist air, to the west. Low level inflow from the west and northwest was not disturbed, causing new storm formation. The initial training of the thunderstorms occurred across Tyler, Doddridge, and Harrison Counties during the predawn hours, dumping 2 to 3.5 inches of rain. A few hours later, the second and larger area of enhanced rainfall occurred across extreme eastern Kanawha County, western Fayette County, western Raleigh County, eastern Wyoming County, and extreme eastern McDowell County. The average west to east width of this enhanced rain was on the order of 30 miles, with a compass heading from 340 to 160 degrees. In a 3 to 6 hour period, rains of 3 to 5.5 inches were common within that band. Maximum rain rates of 1.5 to 2.5 inches per hour occurred. Upslope, into these higher elevations, likely aided these rain amounts. Despite the initially dry top soil and low stream levels, the steep terrain and narrow valleys were quickly saturated. Between 0715 and 0830E, Hawks Nest State Park measured 2.3 inches of rain. With individual thunderstorm cells racing southeast at 40 to 50 mph, brief lulls occurred before new thunderstorm cells transversed this corridor. Lulls in the rain intensity were on the order of 5 to 15 minutes. The National Weather Service rain gauge in Mullens was washed away by the Slab Fork, but a Corps of Engineers automated gauge recorded a total of 5.37 inches. Other storm totals included 5.2 inches at Oceana and 5.0 inches at Hawks Nest State Park. A volunteer spotter at Page also reported 5.0 inches. Oak Hill and Pineville both measured 4.8 inches, while downtown Beckley had 4.6 inches. Elkhorn measured 4.5 inches of rain. A spotter on Arista Mountain on the Wyoming/Mercer County line had 4.3 inches of rain. London Lock and Dam had 4.0 inches of rain. A Corps of Engineers gauge one mile east of Crab Orchard also measured 4 inches. Dry Creek of Raleigh County saw 3.9 inches of rain. As many as 14,000 homes lost power, with the most in Fayette and Wyoming Counties. Railroad beds were washed-out or undermined. Vulnerable spots were where railroad tracks crossed small streams running down from adjacent slopes. The Amtrak Cardinal train between Chicago and Washington D.C. was stopped in Charleston, as the main line through the New River gorge was damaged in Fayette County. A spokesman for the United States Postal Service said flood damages occurred at the officeslocated at Anawalt, Clear Fork, Dorothy, Glen Jean, Glen Ferris, Itmann, Kimball, Kincaid, Lynco, Maybeury, Minden, Mullens, Switchback, Wyco, and Wyoming. The most extensive damage was done to the offices in Kimball, Mullens, and Minden. The Mullens and Kimball offices were relocated to new quarters. The Minden office was washed off its foundation, but was stopped from floating further away, by its flag pole. Most of these offices were leased by the Postal Service, so the damages were the responsibility of the lessors. However, approximately $200,000 was spent with postal funds in labor and materials for the recovery. The state reported 61 water systems were damaged. The state board of education estimated about 3 million dollars in damage to schools, most in Wyoming County. More than 500 people gathered in 23 emergency shelters. Many flooded residents stayed with relatives. To assist in the clean-up., the air and army national guard personnel peaked at around 2400 members during the 4th week of July. Personnel from South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, joined the West Virginia troops. The major general of the WV National Guard described the scene in southern West Virginia by saying, "It's just massive destruction". By month's end, 35,000 tons of debris had been hauled away by contractors. Much of the debris had collected on, or against, private and state bridges. The American Red Cross served over 275,000 meals to flood victims and recovery personnel.FEMA added more counties to the original disaster declaration 1378 that was initiated in May. The agency set up a large disaster field office in Charleston. Temporary and large term housing trailers were being established by the month's end, amounting to 29 million dollars in disaster housing. To summarize, for many affected residents, this flood was not a matter of property loss, but of survival. Many along the small streams had to escape "walls of water" within minutes. A father of a family in Dorothy thought, "we'll never get out of this alive". Water roared out of the hollows and onto the wider valleys, carrying trees, rocks, mud, and pieces of homes. As the steep topsoil turned into a liquid, considerable damage was done to dwellings, due to the runoff and debris slides. Accounts from citizens included running up the sides of mountains, driving to higher ground and waiting in vehicles, escaping from roof tops, while others were trapped in their homes. Governor Wise assessed the damage from the air during the afternoon of the 8th. His helicopter was then pressed into the rescue efforts. The main reason there was only 1 fatality, in these counties, was the fact that the flood occurred on a Sunday. Most residents were still at home, rather than at work or school. As a result, the urge to travel was limited. Also, the daylight hours made their escapes safer. Then, almost as quickly as it came, the water was gone. Newspaper headlines favored the words, "destruction" and "devastation" to describe this event.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5261792. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.