What a week.

At this time last Sunday, many of us were waking to news that Valley Grove, Triadelphia, Elm Grove and portions of Woodsdale had experienced unprecedented flash flooding, as 4 inches of rain fell in those communities in a 30-minute span. Eight lives were lost, and one person still is missing. Nearly 200 homes were destroyed or damaged. More than 70 cars destroyed.

The West Virginia National Guard has been on scene since last Sunday, dispatched in the early afternoon that day as Gov. Patrick Morrisey declared a state of emergency in Ohio County. Bridges were damaged and closed. First-responders made heroic rescues of those trapped by rising water.

The incident is now considered Ohio County’s largest mass casualty situation in decades.

The tragedy was followed by what we know as the best of this Ohio Valley — people helping people. Within hours of the water rising on June 14, friends and neighbors showed up to help. Local churches partnered with national organizations to bring in more aid and also to bring in dedicated staff to help families rebuild. Local businesses served as collection points for residents looking to help. The community banded together as it has in other times of need.

The stories of tragedy — among the eight lives taken were a mother and her 3-year-old daughter, a husband and wife, a young man recently out of high school — were butressed by stories of hope, as people came to begin the process of restoring some level of normalcy.

That continued Saturday. Hundreds made their way through a collection site at Triadelphia United Methodist Church, where supplies were handed out, food was prepared and offered to those that stopped by and the Ohio County Health Department had a tent to offer help and even tetanus shots.

Health Department Administrator Howard Gamble said as of Saturday morning, about 1,400 tetanus shots had been given.

Supplies already at the Triadelphia church were supplemented by donations from the National Road Church of Christ and Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Effort. Food boxes, cleaning supplies and more were dropped at the church for easier distribution to those in need.

Volunteers also used UTVs to collect supplies to deliver to those still somewhat isolated a week after the flooding, as several privately owned bridges are impassable.

In Woodsdale Saturday, crews with OV Mutual Aid spent the morning helping residents clean out basements filled with water and mud from the flooding. One resident who lives right along the run in Woodsdale said she had 4 feet of water in her basement, with muck left behind.

Other work continued throughout the Triadelphia and Valley Grove areas. Trees were cut up and removed, sidewalks and driveways were hosed down, and folks removed damaged appliances and hot-water tanks. While the area is much improved from this time last Sunday, much mud — and months of work — remains.

Gamble made an interesting comment concerning the region. He said Friday, after everything had finished, he and others went to dinner at The Highlands. On their way back toward Wheeling, he said the Triadelphia area had a haze of dust hanging over it, giving it an odd look. Hopefully in the coming weeks, through the efforts of those living there and the hundreds on site willing to help, that haze will go away and be replaced with a resilience fit for the hard-working people in our communities.