After floodwaters rushed through the state on Friday, a baby’s body was discovered inside a flooded automobile in southern West Virginia, according to authorities.
A series of thunderstorms that flooded the South and poured nearly 3 inches of rain in some West Virginia coincided with the flooding. According to National Weather Service forecaster Bob Oravec, thunderstorms were possible on Friday from the Florida Panhandle to the coast of North Carolina.
In the Fayette County hamlet of Pax, a lady contacted 911 to report that her car was stranded in high water and couldn’t find the infant. In a statement released Friday afternoon, sheriff Mike Fridley stated that the 11-week-old child was discovered inside the waterlogged vehicle.
Investigators found that the woman underestimated the level of the water and drove into the road before realizing it was too deep. She attempted to remove the child, but the car had been washed away.
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Water up to 18 feet deep was present in the location where the car was found. The search was difficult because the muddy conditions reduced visibility in the water to almost nothing. According to the statement, the incident is still being investigated.
Devastating floods are common in West Virginia because communities are scattered throughout the landscape along slender river valleys. In June 2016, flooding across the state claimed the lives of 23 individuals.
“We cannot stress enough the importance of not driving through flood waters,” Fridley said. “Water depth is very hard to judge, as well as it is hard to judge the speed of moving water.”
In Mingo County, along West Virginia’s border with Kentucky and Virginia, a mudslide knocked over a few train cars loaded with coal, the county emergency services office said.
According to Terry Fletcher, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, the breakdown of a sediment ditch berm at a coal mining facility managed by Coal-Mac LLC was the reason for the mudslide.
One home was uprooted by the mudslide, and another was engulfed in water and mud. At least one homeowner needed help leaving their home. State police were looking into it, but there were no reported injuries.
According to Fletcher, the DEP ordered the coal operator to find temporary housing for the affected residents, stabilize and repair the area around the slide, and clear the dwellings of mud and debris. The location has been equipped in order to start the remediation process.
On Friday, officials cancelled classes in 10 West Virginia counties. Due to flooded roadways, school bus routes in Kanawha County, the state’s largest county, were altered or discontinued. A state of emergency was proclaimed by the governor on Thursday as storms moved through.
Over 170 pupils from three separate schools were forced to congregate in an impromptu slumber party on Thursday night in Lincoln County due to flooding.
Due to rising water, which rendered several routes impassable, schools in the county in the southern portion of the state were dismissed two hours earlier on Thursday. Parents who could drive to the schools to pick up their kids were permitted to do so, but many pupils had to stay in class.
Community members, stores, and churches donated cots, blankets, pillows, and other supplies, and staff members stayed on site to supervise the students, school officials said.
“We just put our last students on buses to go home, so we’re waiting to get confirmation that we delivered all those students,” Lincoln County school Superintendent Jeffrey Kelley said by telephone Friday night. “We’ve got a bunch of great people who are committed to kids and doing the right thing. That makes these tough situations a lot easier.”
