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The state’s emergency management team began deploying responders to the most affected areas Tuesday evening, according to Lt. Stephen Lindsey of the Bruceton Brandonville Volunteer Fire Department.
Lindsey and his crew made their way through a maze of flooded roads to reach downtown Weston on Tuesday evening, where floodwater had risen above some stop signs. Responding to 911 calls from residents and others who needed help on the ground, his team rescued seven adults, four children and several pets.
Responders from other counties, some more than three hours away, traveled to affected areas to assist, Lindsey said.
About 7,000 customers across several north-central West Virginia counties were without power as of Thursday morning, according to PowerOutage.us. Outages affected Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital in Weston, which was using a generator to provide medical care, Morrisey said Wednesday.
The West Virginia Emergency Management Division opened a shelter at Lewis County High School for residents displaced by the flooding. Shelters also are open at Buckhannon Church of the Nazarene and Philippi Middle School, the governor said.
“The devastation across our county is extensive. Businesses, homes, vehicles, and countless personal belongings have been damaged or destroyed, and the full extent of the losses is still unknown,” Lewis County Commissioner Agnes Quinn Queen posted to Facebook Wednesday morning, saying water rescues had been going on for hours.
Even as offers of help pour in, officials in Upshur County are urging people to wait until there is a better sense of the extent of damage.
“At this time, however, volunteers and organizations are asked not to self-deploy to affected areas,” the Upshur County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management said. “Uncoordinated response efforts can create additional safety hazards, increase traffic congestion and complicate ongoing emergency operations.”
Tornadoes and damaging winds out east
Rain largely moved out of West Virginia on Wednesday, but rivers and streams in the central part of the state were forecast to keep rising as runoff moves through the watershed.
The same storm system responsible for the flooding also produced multiple tornadoes and damaging winds farther north and east. Tornadoes were reported in Kentucky, Ohio and New Jersey on Tuesday, including one in Clermont County, Ohio.
Denise Davis, who lives in Clermont County, told USdaily affiliate WKRC she brought her grandchildren to the basement as soon as she heard the tornado warning.
“The winds picked up, the lights were flickering, and then I heard a real loud bang, which of course was the tree falling onto the house,” she said.
Davis added that everyone was in a safe position under the basement stairs when the tree fell.
“I cried, and then the grandbabies were crying,” she said, recounting the moment she first saw the tree on her house. “I just don’t know what to do from here.”
Two tornadoes were also observed in northern New Jersey after supercell thunderstorms moved over the area.
More than 100,000 customers across Kentucky, Ohio and New Jersey lost power on Tuesday night, but service had been restored to most by Wednesday midday, when fewer than 21,000 outages remained, according to PowerOutage.us.
Flash flood warnings were issued for New York City Tuesday afternoon, but were lifted later in the evening.
New York City’s sewer system, built more than a century ago, is designed to handle only about 1.75 inches of rainfall per hour.
In recent years, as extreme weather events have become more common, the system has shown its limits. When it backs up under the pressure of large amounts of rainfall in short periods of time, the result is flooded streets in low-lying areas, homes and subway stations.
This story has been updated with additional information.
USdaily’s Gloria Pazmino, Julianna Bragg, Danya Gainor, David Williams, Lauren Mascarenhas, Chris Boyette, Avni Trivedi, Tanika Gray, Cindy Von Quednow and Maria Aguilar Prieto contributed to this report.
