MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Titan Roofing and WVRC Media will host a donation collection event at the Suncrest Towne Centre for flood victims in southern West Virginia.
Trucks will be located across from the Five Guys and Jimmy John’s location from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, February 21, to collect relief supplies.
Staff will be on hand to help unload donations into vehicles heading to the southern part of the state as soon as Saturday.
Those who wish to donate are encouraged to donate non-perishable food items, baby supplies, and cleaning supplies as well as first aid, coolers, hygiene items, and pet food.
Jeff Jenkins from MetroNews traveled to McDowell County this and spoke to several residents; some had endured floods in 1977 and in the early 2000s.
“Devastation is the best way to describe it. We’ve been there before to cover floods in 2001 and 2002,” Jenkins said. “The folks you talk to this week say the overriding theme here is that the flood hit every part of the county.”
Jenkins toured the community of Welch, where nearly half of McDowell County Public Service District customers remain without water service. The washouts are so bad the roadbeds and roads must be reestablished before waterline work can be done.
“What you had here was flash flooding from the streams and creeks, but you also had river flooding,” Jenkins said.
After the tour, Jenkins said the entire area is in for a long recovery period to get back to close to normal.
“There’s so much work to do,” Jenkins said. “There are roads washed out, waterlines washed out, there’s debris everywhere, and people’s homes are destroyed,” Jenkins said.
No clothes or building materials are being requested at this time.
This is a WVRC Media Cares for Community event.