The funeral for a 73-year-old male victim took place yesterday, visitation for a 3-year-old and her 26-year-old mother begins today in Elm Grove, and one lady, 83-year-old Sandra Kay Parsons, remains missing 10 days after first responders started searching for her.
It’s still a solemn and sad time in Ohio County, West Virginia, and the mood will be slow to change after flashing flooding on June 14 claimed eight lives and caused millions of dollars in damage in the villages of Valley Grove and Triadelphia. Trailers were destroyed, homes were moved off their foundations, and members of the W.Va. National Guard have been clearing debris for more than a week.
That “garbage,” though, is actually a lot of life documents, family furniture, personal computers, diplomas and certificates, framed pictures and photos albums, and even more cherished memories than most will remember.
Flooding is unfortunately familiar in the Wheeling area: On July 23, 2017, 19-year-old Page Gellner and boyfriend, 24-year-old Michael Grow, were killed by flash flooding along Brown’s Run, and in September 2004, creeks and streams flash flooded a number of Wheeling neighborhoods on the 17th, and the Ohio River covered Wheeling Island with a crest of 45.3 feet two days later.
Last April and May, the Ohio River flooded twice in less than two weeks, and agents with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had boots on the ground for more than a month.
But in Triadelphia and Valley Grove, it’s different. The shock is still fresh, there’s not been a day that hasn’t been the worst day, and a heat wave has settled into this tri-state region.
“We have had natural disasters here in Ohio County through the years, but we’ve never seen something like what’s happened in those towns. Not only is it the deadliest disaster in our history, but the destruction is unprecedented,” reported Lou Vargo, the long-time director of the Wheeling-Ohio County Emergency Management Agency. “From what I’ve been told, there’s been flooding out in those areas, but they’ve never experienced anything like this.
“There were areas on the eastern side of the county that got between 3 and 5 inches of rain in less than an hour and it was too much for the streams and the (Little Wheeling) creek,” he explained. “(The water) did what it wanted and took whatever was in its way.”
Camper Living
It’s been kind of a contest in Triadelphia when it comes to filling dumpsters and it’s Kera Allietta who has been keeping score and urging for more the next day and the day after that.
That’s because Allietta, the village’s assistant fire chief, knows it helps make the cleanup move along a little more quickly, and she’s just as sick as anyone staring at this disaster. She’s lost everything, too, and these days, when she actually takes time to rest, she lays her head down on a bed inside a borrowed camper.
The day after the flooding, she posted this to her Facebook timeline:
“My home is destroyed, my vehicle is destroyed and my station is destroyed, but at the end of the day, those are all replaceable. My thoughts are with the families of those who were less fortunate and to those we will find today.”
“I didn’t really have a whole lot of time to look at what happened to my house or my truck or the station when the water first hit, but when I finally had a minute to breathe, I realized it was all gone,” Allietta recalled. “I knew immediately I was in the same position as so many of our residents here.
“We’re in this together. That’s the attitude we’ve all adopted. That’s the only way we’ll get through this.”
There are more than 650 homes that were destroyed, badly damaged, and flooded in Triadelphia, and representatives with FEMA arrived Monday. Allietta admits she’s not sure how much of the village will remain after inspections and demolition, but she’s sure her community will stick together.
“It’s been amazing how our folks have come together for everyone, and the Ohio County commissioners have been tremendous to us, too. The first thing they told us was to ask for whatever we need, and they’ve been there for us,” she said. “And there’s been people from everywhere coming into town to ask what they can do, too, and that kindness gives you hope.
“We’ve all lost a lot,” she said, “and it’s going to take time before we see what’s really left.”
The Sheriff in Town
Looters and imposters.
Believe it or not, there have been reports, according to Allietta, about individuals posing as representatives from utility companies, like law enforcement, and, incredibly, as flood victims, too, and some have been detected and charged with the appropriate crimes.
Ohio County Sheriff Nelson Croft also is working with the W.Va. Fusion Center to target fraudulent GoFundMe campaigns, and he informed WTOV9 that more than 70 accounts have been flagged for investigation.
“It’s hard to tell when looters are in the area because of how well they blend in,” the sheriff explained. “Triadelphia and Valley are a communities where everyone knows everyone, so if there’s someone new in town, most people know it. But right now, with all the help that has come into these towns, there are a lot of out-of-towners around the area.
“That’s why we have deputies from other counties who have volunteered to patrol these areas,” he explained. “They’re in marked cars so people see them and think twice. If we can prevent looters, that’s what we want to do, and now that the rain has stopped and the heat is here, maybe we’ll see that decrease.”
Establishing online fundraising campaigns is easy enough, but more than $200,000 has been contributed to the accounts in question.
“This county is full of great people who want to help, and there’s a ton of assistance coming into the county from the outside, too, so we want to make sure that money goes where those people want it to go,” Croft said. “We believe there are people who are trying to take those dollars for themselves and that’s not right.
“People have lost everything,” he said. “They need the help those folks are trying to give them, so we’re working on making that happen.”
Pickin’ for Donations
He’s usually the one on the left playing the mandolin when The Roadhog Band takes the stage to perform their stompgrass style of eclectic music, and that’s what Chad Kleeh did this past Saturday night at the J&B Bar in Triadelphia.
The Roadhogs, most of whom were raised in Valley Grove, never place a “Tip Jar” out front during their shows, but they did that evening and collected a little more than $8,000 for their friends and neighbors along U.S. 40.
“I’ve been saying it since this flooding took place – our community is amazing,” said Kleeh, Valley Grove’s mayor of the past 19 years. “The donations have been incredible. The food, the water, the cleaning supplies; amazing. There’s not another word to describe it.
“This flood could have been the end of our town, but after I saw everyone working together, and then more people coming from outside to help, I knew then we had a chance. That’s when I knew we were fighting back,” he explained. “When I was younger, we had a lot of fun growing up here because it was a community and there were a lot of kids who lived here.
Valley Grove’s recreation park sits adjacent to Little Wheeling Creek, and despite the steep shoreline, the facility got hit and is now in need of extensive repairs.
“When I was a kid, we’d all go to the park during the summer and do something, and it was that way until we kept losing population,” Kleeh remembered. “We’ve lost a lot of folks; it doesn’t seem as if people want to live out here anymore, but maybe now that will change because our people are fighting to come back.
“Once we get the park all fixed up, we’ll see if people want to have a picnic or something,” the mayor said. “I bet they will after all of this.”
Eyes, Ears, and Tears
He has seen what most don’t want to see, and Vargo does what most could not.
And he’s performed his EMA duties with an untouchable level of compassion for 35 years after beginning as the EMA assistant director in 1990 and working with the late John Tagg who passed away suddenly in September 2009.
That’s why, with those decades of experience, when Vargo insists this natural disaster is the worst he’s witnessed, it’s the worst most anyone has seen in Ohio County.
“Because of our terrain in this area, flooding takes place in this valley when we’ve seen precipitation that’s been well above normal, and we’ve sent the message to our residents who live along our creeks and streams to be prepared for the unexpected,” he said. “And the people on (Wheeling Island) usually get two- or three-days warning before the river exceeds its limits.
“In (July) 2017, it was a nighttime storm that hit and there was a lot of damage in the area of Peter’s Run Road, and we had two people get swept away by Brown’s Run and pass away,” he recalled. “But what happened this time in Valley Grove and Triadelphia is something we’ve never seen before.”
He’s working with his FEMA colleagues now, and he continues to urge flood victims to complete the damage survey (see below) so the federal folks will have the reports and addresses, but Vargo knows an extended recovery process still won’t return the two villages back to normal.
“It’s impossible to tell right now how long it’s going to take,” he said. “And every time it rains real hard, the people in those communities are going to get nervous. Unfortunately, it’s going to be that way for a while, and after something like this, no one can blame them.”
Thanks for the update Steve. Born and raised in Valley Grove, just down the road from Chad Kleeh. My thoughts are with my family and friends still there.
You are very welcome, George. I will continue trying to help.