Flooding had closed the roads, and white-capped rapids were sweeping away everything from backyard swing sets to trailers, campers, storage containers, and vehicles. And yes, that included the cars and trucks that were occupied when walls of water rippled and whipped the Town of Triadelphia beyond recognition.
And, much like most people on the eastern side of Ohio County on June 14, Pastor Mike Palmer and his wife Linda suddenly found themselves trapped away from their home and forced to sleep that night in their Chevy Silverado parked in a gas station lot.
It was June 15, and life had changed.
“We got up around 5 a.m., and the water had receded, but when we drove up the street, it looked like someone just dropped bombs everywhere. There was debris – parts of people’s homes – all over the place, and storage containers were all over the place, too,” Pastor Palmer described. “There were cars and trucks in the creek, and houses and trailers were crooked, and there was a part of the roadway near Bliefus Tire that was just gone. The water just took it.
“People told us they saw a 12-foot wall of water that hit bridges and took out three homes off the foundations. It just left the water squirting out, and their power lines just hanging there. It was just, like I said, just like a tornado and bombs dropped everywhere,” he said. “Then we finally made it to the church, and it wasn’t touched, and that’s when the neighbors started showing up to see what they could do to help the other neighbors who were in a daze.”
Palmer is the pastor at the Triadelphia United Methodist Church, and on the evening of June 14, he and Linda were invited to a friend’s home near Bear Rock Lake for an anniversary party. They noticed a “pretty good” downpour, but the hard rain stopped and all seemed normal for a summer night in the Upper Ohio Valley.
“But then it flared up again, and it wouldn’t stop. It rained and rained,” Palmer recalled. “That’s when we decided it was time for us to start heading home, but the problem was, we couldn’t get there.
“We tried to use Valley Grove Road, and it was covered with water and was closed, so then we tried to come down from West Alexander Road; it was closed at a point, too,” he said. “Then we got back on I-70 and saw the clouds forming, and by the time we were in the area of the Subaru dealership on U.S. 40 in Elm Grove, there was water coming across the highway there, too. There was water where we had never seen water before.”
Pastor Mike then decided to venture forward on foot and Linda stayed behind on the “S-Bridge” now dedicated to the memory of U.S. Army Sgt. Matthew D Hunter.
“We had gone back across the bridge to the St. Paul’s apartment towers, and we parked in that lot and walked down to the middle of the bridge so we could see all of the debris floating downstream,” Palmer remembered. “It was getting dark out by the time we got there, so I walked down to the (Citgo) gas station to check out the situation, but no one wanted people down there either.
“When I got back to the bridge, my wife said she had seen two cargo containers float by, and she had seen an SUV with two people in it, too,” he said. “That was a rough moment.”
Historic Horror
The National Weather Service has reported since June that more than 4 inches of rain had fallen within an hour in the Triadelphia and Valley Grove areas, and that additional precipitation followed during the pitch-black, overnight hours.
That’s why the Palmers awoke to find nothing short of the worst natural disaster in Ohio County history.
“It was a lot to process, so I just told everyone to meet at the church and we’d figure something out, and that’s when I fired up my two-burner grill and the Blackstone grill and I started cooking hamburgers and hot dogs. I knew people were going to be hungry,” Palmer said. “We knew there were supplies and stuff at Riesbeck’s, but at first, we couldn’t really get there.
“A lot of people lost their vehicles, and if they didn’t, it would have been hard for them to drive around all of the debris,” he said. “But that’s when people started coming to us to help. There were employees from Williams (Energy), and church groups, and people drove their four-wheelers to the church to see what they could for the victims. It was amazing.”
The gravel parking lot adjacent to the United Methodist Church quickly became the community’s crisis center, where supporters dropped donations and residents picked up sustenance and survival supplies. Social media platforms were utilized to distribute the latest updates and needs, and every media outlet in the tri-state region covered the fatal flash flooding.
“We were the central hub for everything,” Palmer said. “And everyone was digging out, and others were delivering supplies and food to the residents who got hit. It was amazing to see people from the community say, ‘We’re here.’ The people here have been amazing.
“People were people, and they helped each other,” he said. “The community really did come together, and we were feeding 1,120 people a day at the church thanks to all of the donations. It was incredible. The generosity was incredible.”
Continued Prayers
Michael Bokanovich: 73, of Triadelphia. Travis Creighton: 19, of Triadelphia. Lisa McMasters: 59, of Triadelphia. Kyleigh Minch Shotton: 26, of Triadelphia. Kyleigh and Jeremy Shotton’s daughter, Parker Shotton: 3, of Triadelphia. Connie Veronis: 71, of Moundsville. Connie’s husband, Michael Veronis: 74, of Moundsville. Jesse Pearson: 43, of Triadelphia. And Sandra Kay Parsons: 83, of Triadelphia.
Palmer continues praying for those friends and neighbors, and for their families, too.
“Those poor folks didn’t know what was happening. It was just so quick, and their families will mourn for them forever,” the pastor said. “And we lost at least 30 to 40 homes immediately during the flooding, and then there are 10 or 15 more that have been condemned by FEMA.
“We also have some commercial buildings that have to come down,” Palmer reported. “When you drive up and down (U.S. Route 40), you see where some of the structures have been torn down. Our towns don’t look the same.”
In October, the national Courage Project recognized Pastor Palmer and 19 others from across the country who “exemplify the American spirit by building bridges and standing up for their neighbors”.
“It’s very nice,” he said shyly. “But it’s more about what our residents have accomplished since and the help they’ve received from this community. That’s the American spirit.”
A plethora of fundraisers for the flash flood victims have been held since the natural disaster, including the recent “Pig Roast Event Hosted by Chris & Amy Jo” back on Oct. 11th at the B&B Sports Bar. Pastor Mike and the recovering residents have also been blessed by the generosity of donors from across the country and by the diligent work performed by the area’s first-responder agencies, the Ohio County Commission, and the Wheeling-Ohio County EMA. He’s very thankful for the dedication of the federal employees with FEMA and the Small Business Administration.
“We’re very pleased with the way it’s going so far,” Palmer explained. “We started with about 75 to 80 homes that needed a lot of work, and I understand that 70 of them are ready for the colder weather. We do have a few more, and there are some people who are still digging out the mud because they’re just getting back into their community.
“And there are the homes that were badly damaged, and those residents are still considering their options,” he said. “It’s either they do the repairs that are needed, or sell it, or destroy it and start over. We hope they stay in our community, but the flood has convinced some to find higher ground.”
Most, though, have remained, including Pastor Mike and his bride.
“You can see the recovery taking place, and that’s good,” he said. “But we know the flooding has changed us forever, too.”
