Flood Keeps Emergency Responders Busy
Derek Redd Trending
WHEELING -- The Ohio County Emergency Operations Center was a hum of activity Thursday morning - and much of the work still had yet to come.
City of Wheeling and Ohio County officials from multiple departments were hunched over laptop computers, on their cell phones or bouncing from room to room, keeping updated on the rising flood waters from the Ohio River that were overtaking Wheeling Island, South Wheeling and other parts of the county. Ohio County Emergency Management Director Lou Vargo said the river would likely crest between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday.
At around 8 p.m. Thursday, that peak came at 41.85 feet, the 23rd-highest crest ever recorded at that spot of the river.
It already was a busy day for first responders Thursday morning. Vargo said the Swift Water Response Team had made four or five rescues of people stuck in their homes on Wheeling Island.
Wheeling Fire Chief James Blazier said there likely had been even more than that. According to Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger, the river had begun to rise more rapidly than anticipated around 6:30 a.m. Thursday. It was so quick that, as police blocked off roads on Wheeling Island, they moved from using cones to using police tape to block areas off faster.
Once flood waters start receding, officials said the next stage of hard work will begin.
"That's when Public Works will get involved," Vargo said.
When the flood waters pull back to below flood stage - waters are not predicted to recede from moderate flood stage until sometime this afternoon and recede from minor flood stage until sometime tonight - the city can start helping residents pump water out of their basements. Those who need assistance can call 304-234-3711.
"We'll keep a list of people who need their basements pumped," Vargo said.
For those who need help disposing of debris and damaged items, Vargo said they should put those items in front of their houses to make it easier to pick them up.
Outside of helping with cleanup, city and county departments will be assisting in other areas. Those who need tetanus shots can get them for free from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. today at the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department. One must be a West Virginia resident to be eligible and no appointment is needed. Anyone seeking more information about the shots can call 304-234-3682.
Government agencies won't be the only ones offering a helping hand Friday. The Experience Church will provide free Chick-fil-A meals at 1 p.m. today in the Abbey's parking lot at 145 Zane Street on Wheeling Island.
One of the biggest ways people can help, Vargo said, is to refrain from traveling to affected areas just to survey the damage. Officials don't want workers forced to navigate around rubberneckers to help residents clean up from a flood bigger than any seen in Wheeling since 2005.
"We have to respect people's privacy," Vargo said. "We're going to have first responders out there. You're going to see a big presence of the City of Wheeling Public Works trucks out there. There's going to be people working in the streets, and we don't need any of our first responders or public works people injured or anything like that.
"Just respect these people's privacy and let us get back to normal as quickly as we can," he added.
Ohio County Schools will remain closed today due to flooding, but one thing that did reopen was W.Va. 2. A major landslide near Gumby's on Wednesday morning left only a sliver of road for vehicles to squeeze through. The City of Wheeling announced Thursday afternoon that all traffic was again allowed to pass through.