WHEELING -- The long and tenuous process of removing mud from basements and sterilizing homes continued on Saturday at flooded residences and businesses in the Ohio Valley.
Just a little more than a day after the Ohio River crested at 41.49 feet, cutting off access to much of Wheeling Island and other low-lying communities, the Ohio River continued to recede toward its normal level, allowing residents to begin cleaning up and others to offer assistance.
A visit to Wheeling Island showed families putting their lives back together after a few days of chaos. After the mud was removed and the bleach sown into every corner, washers and dryers, hot water heaters and furnaces were returned to basements and reinstalled. But it was the mud that, on Saturday, took up everyone’s time.
Crews from Panhandle Cleaning and Restoration were busy Saturday morning hosing and scrubbing mud from Wheeling Island Hotel Casino Racetrack. Next door at Wheeling Island Stadium, where a layer of silt sat atop the artificial turf, workers prepared to begin cleaning the field. Water and time will be needed to get as much mud out of the turf as possible before it dries and stains the surface.
City of Wheeling crews remained busy throughout Saturday, helping residents pump mud and water from their basements, removing trash and cleaning city streets on Wheeling Island.
Volunteers mobilized in full force on Saturday as well. Early in the morning, a 53-foot trailed from the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort in Nashville pulled into the National Road Church of Christ in Wheeling, filled with cleaning supplies, clothing, shoes, food and more to help residents get back on their feet. On the Island, the House of the Carpenter stayed busy through the day handing out cleaning supplies and other assistance. At Belle Isle, volunteers gathered with a small table filled with supplies to assist residents on Wheeling Island’s north end.
John McCabe