HUNDRED, W.Va. — Saturday’s flooding in parts of the Northern Panhandle and North Central West Virginia could lead to some significant issues in the coming days and coming weeks, according to Delegate Joe Statler (R – Monongalia, 51).
Statler has spent time in Wadestown and Hundred since the floods hit. He’s hoping both state representatives and individual donors will act quickly to help those impacted save their homes.
“We’ve got some good strong homes that’s still savable,” he said. “We’ve got to get the water out of them. We got to clean basements and get all that mud out of there before the mold sets in and destroys the home. That’s what we’re concentrating on.”
Statler suggested a group or groups of donors could pool their resources to donate dehumidifiers or large fans.
“One person can’t afford that, but if a group could go together and bring over a half-a-dozen or a dozen or whatever dehumidifiers, it would be greatly used over here,” he said. “Like I said, you don’t get these homes dried out? We’re not going to save them.”
Statler also said that the Hundred High School football field probably took on six feet of water and is unlikely to be ready for use this season.
“It came down through here and just took out things,” Statler said Monday on WAJR’s Morgantown AM. “I think the football field was under six foot of water. They’re working with Clay-Battelle High School to get their football program over there to practice. It’s yet unknown what they’ll do for a season. I can guarantee you their field is not going to be useable.”
In Wadestown, Statler said the longest running fair in Monongalia County had to close their gates early to respond to flooding.
“They just had to shut the fair down on Saturday night, which for them is devastating,” he said. “And I will tell you that the homes and the roads and everything was in terrible shape.”
That also included evacuating the animals at the 90th Battelle-District Fair.
“I think it was 2:00 or 2:30 in the morning, they actually had animals standing in three feet of water,” Statler said. “They got all those rescued — no problem.”
The biggest concern in that area is the potential for rain later in the week while the clean-up process remains ongoing.
“There’s a lot of different needs that’s going on over here, but what [people] don’t need is predicted Wednesday night and Thursday morning and into Friday — more rain,” Statler said. “Some early indications are saying it could be a possible four inches.”
Flooding on Saturday damaged hundreds of homes and led to the issuing of a state of emergency for eight West Virginia counties.
Donors can bring supplies to Hundred High School.