photo by: Warren Scott

Members of the Hooverson Heights Volunteer Fire Department hose mud and debris from Main Street near the Brooke County Judicial Center on Friday.

WELLSBURG — Though the high waters of the Ohio River have receded, many Northern Panhandle residents and personnel have been left with a wet mess to clean up.

On Friday, residents at Wellsburg’s south end, not far from the river, reported water rose in their basements anywhere from two feet to more than four feet, and volunteer firefighters could be seen hosing from city streets cakes of mud and debris that had been washed onto their surfaces.

Nicole Fillinger said the first level of her Charles Street home was flooded within a half-hour, destroying a refrigerator, furniture and other belongings.

She said a storm drain on the adjacent Fifth Street frequently becomes overtaxed during heavy rain, causing that section of the street east of Charles Street to flood.

It and a section of Fourth Street and the south end of Charles Street near the city’s wastewater treatment plant remained covered with water on Friday.

First Ward Councilman Jerry Nichols said many residents are accustomed not only to watching the river’s level when a flood warning is issued, but also storm drains near their homes.

“We’ve been born and raised to watch the sewers,” said Nichols, while adding he believes the separation of a handful of combined sanitary and stormwater lines in recent years has helped to alleviate flooding.

Nichols said he’s been in the process of re-siding his Charles Street home and was able to move building materials outside his home to drier ground with the help of some friends.

But he said he lost his furnace when water rose 4½ feet in his basement.

Nichols said he saw City Patrolman Rick Reinard using a rake to remove debris from the storm drain near his home and once that occurred, the water descended.

Reinard was among many area emergency personnel who could be found in the city, pumping water from residents’ basements and assisting in other ways.

Wellsburg Fire Chief Scott Kins said several volunteer fire departments in the county stepped forward to help.

“We have a lot of resources coming in to help out,” said Kins, who said the various departments had pumped out at least 30 homes.

He noted they included residences in the Pleasant Avenue area high above the city that were plagued with excessive runoff.

It’s the first major flood in which Kins has served as fire chief. He said he had entered into his cell phone notes kept by his late father and former assistant fire chief, Stanley Kins, indicating areas that often flood.

Brooke County Commissioner A.J. Thomas could be found outside his Charles Street law office, also contending with a flooded basement.

Thomas said he and other county officials and staff had moved everything from the first floor of the county courthouse on Main Street to the building’s upper levels.

While water rose to about 2 feet within the former garage of the county’s ambulance service on the ground level of the courthouse, it did not enter the recently completed judicial center.

“The new courthouse didn’t get a drop of water anywhere,” Thomas said of the building, which was built on a lot elevated to prevent such an occurrence.

Thomas noted the river rose to more than 41 feet.

The height is about five feet above flood stage but still short of 45.1 feet, to which it rose in 2004 after the Ohio Valley experienced a deluge of rain attributed to Hurricane Ivan.

According to the National Weather Service, the river crested at 46.2 feet for floods in the city in 1964 and 1996 and at 54.6 feet for the 1936 flood.

The Rev. Lawrence Kimball, pastor of Riverview Baptist Chapel near the south end of Charles Street, said following the 2004 flood, wooden elements of the church’s foundation were replaced with masonry.

Kimball said church members and other volunteers were slated this weekend to resume cleanup efforts of the first floor, which included its fellowship hall and rooms used for a daycare service.

He pointed to two refrigerators in one room that had been overturned by the force of water entering the building.

Kimball said Sunday’s worship service, held on the upper floor, would not be affected.

As he and a volunteer were gathering bags of trash, a truckload of members of the Brooke High School football team arrived to offer help.

The youth are among a number of groups offering assistance to those affected by the flood.

The Brooke County Family Resource Center solicited various cleaning supplies for affected residents and delivered them to the Wellsburg Fire Station on 12th Street.

The Wellsburg Kiwanis Club, in cooperation with several area businesses, is accepting donations of cleaning supplies and toiletries, which may be dropped off at James Funeral Home in Follansbee, First National Bank in Wellsburg or Howard Hanna Mortimer Realty at 3028 Pennsylvania Ave. in Weirton.

The Brooke County Emergency Management Agency is asking residents to leave their trash in two piles, one for scrap material and one for other trash, on their lawn or curbside.

The Brooke County EMA has encouraged residents needing help with pumping or other cleanup efforts to call (304) 975-0261. Those needing emergency assistance should still call 911.

It’s also announced a free tetanus vaccine clinic will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the county courthouse.

Those who haven’t received a tetanus shot in the last five years or have experienced a new cut or tear in their skin while involved in flood cleanup efforts are encouraged to participate.

Cleanup efforts also continue in New Cumberland, with cleaning supplies available at the city’s fire station from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Dumpsters, for materials discarded by flood victims only, also will be available there from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the weekend.

Those needing help pumping out their basements should call (304) 564-3383, ext. 200, to be placed on a waiting list, with the fire department working to obtain additional personnel to assist.

Tetanus shots will be available from 10 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Hancock County Health Department.