Three days after devastating flash floods swept through north-central West Virginia, communities across the Eastern Panhandle are mobilizing to help fellow West Virginians.
Among them is Del. Chris Anders, who loaded his pickup truck and a trailer with donated supplies Friday morning and drove them to a relief collection site in Weston after watching the destruction unfold earlier this week.
“I was stunned,” Anders said. “When I saw pictures of the Walmart and realized the devastation, it really hit home. I was thinking about it when I went to sleep, and I woke up, and the first thing on my mind at 5:30 in the morning was, ‘I’ve got to do something.'”
The flooding, which began Tuesday after torrential rainfall inundated parts of north-central West Virginia, has claimed multiple lives and left widespread damage to homes, businesses and infrastructure. Recovery efforts continue with assistance from the West Virginia National Guard, emergency responders and volunteers from across the state.
Anders said his truck and trailer were packed with approximately 100 cases of bottled water, about 30 gallons of bleach, buckets, paper products and nonperishable food before he headed to the Marketplace Mall in Weston, where relief supplies are being collected for flood victims.
When he arrived, volunteers were already hard at work unloading vehicles.
“There had to be eight to 10 people out there jumping right in,” Anders said. “While I was there, there were a couple other trucks pulling in from all over the state.”
Although much of the hardest-hit area remained closed to allow cleanup crews to work, Anders said the damage was evident.
“There’s a lot of damage downtown,” he said. “I have a feeling they have months worth of work to do inside of the Walmart.”
He also saw vehicles still bearing high-water marks and residents using generators to power deep freezers in pickup truck beds in an effort to salvage food.
While relief supplies continue to arrive, Anders said there remains an urgent need for bottled water because many private wells were submerged by floodwaters and are unsafe to use until they can be tested. He also encouraged donations of bleach, other cleaning supplies and ready-to-eat foods that do not require cooking.
“The real heroes of the story are the people that donated the goods,” Anders said, adding that community members also contributed several hundred dollars that was used to purchase additional supplies before the trip.
Meanwhile, relief efforts are starting up locally.
The Berkeley County Commission and Berkeley County first responders will hold a donation drive Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Spring Mills Walmart. Organizers are requesting cleaning supplies, hygiene items and hand tools, including mops, brooms, bleach, trash bags, work gloves, diapers, toilet paper, extension cords, fans, air mattresses, shovels and rakes.
Main Street Martinsburg, the Martinsburg Farmers Market and the City of Martinsburg also are collecting donations through the weekend before transporting them to affected communities.
Based on updated requests from relief organizers in Buckhannon, the greatest needs include extension cords, fans, air mattresses, toilet paper, paper towels, nonperishable food, sports drinks, paper plates, plastic utensils, regular-size trash bags, mops, brooms, shovels and disinfecting wipes.
BY TOM MARKLAND tmarkland@journal-news.net
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