[REVISION HISTORY]
West Virginia flash flooding and recovery
Updated 2 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.
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2026-07-29 19:00 UTC → 2026-08-17 06:35 UTC ·
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West Virginia flash flooding and recovery
Heavy rain on July 21‑22 2026 21–22, 2026, dumped up to seven inches in minutes of water across north‑central north-central West Virginia, overwhelming creeks and rivers in Upshur, Lewis Lewis, and neighboring counties. The flooding killed two residents, identified as Judy A. Young and James J. Harper, and damaged approximately 1,000 homes and businesses. Governor Patrick Morrisey declared a statewide emergency, mobilized mobilizing the National Guard with hundreds of personnel and opened shelters; helicopter crews to assist in rescuing more than 100 residents were rescued from flooded homes, vehicles, and two fatalities were confirmed. Severe thunderstorms businesses. Infrastructure damage was significant, with washed-out bridges and closures on July 23 intensified flooding in Interstate 79 and U.S. Route 48. In Buckhannon and Weston. Weston, flooding inundated a Walmart and a hotel lobby. The City of Elkins dispatched deployed multiple departments, including fire, police, operations, wastewater and water wastewater crews, along with dump trucks, to assist with rescue and cleanup. Both While floodwaters entered parts of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Stonewall Jackson Hospital Hospital, both facilities activated their disaster plans. Power remained on plans and maintained uninterrupted medical care using backup generators and Starlink antennae kept communications functional; no patients were relocated communications. Subsequent heavy rainfall on August 14–15 caused further flooding and medical care continued uninterrupted. road closures in Randolph, Barbour, and Upshur counties, impacting areas such as US 219 and West Virginia Route 76. The disaster revived has renewed criticism of regarding a 2004 flood‑mitigation flood-mitigation plan that had never been funded. After a 2016 flood killed 23 people, lacked funding. Although the West Virginia Flood Resiliency Office was created but remained unfunded until established following a 2016 flood that killed 23 people, it only received a $5 million allocation during the 2026 legislative session allocated $5 million, a step officials say session. Officials emphasize that implementing these plans is urgent given climate‑driven due to increasing climate-driven storm intensity. Recovery efforts continue with community support and state‑run assistance surveys.
Versions
- 2026-08-17 06:35 UTC West Virginia flash flooding and recovery
- 2026-07-29 19:00 UTC West Virginia flash flooding
- 2026-07-27 05:25 UTC West Virginia flash flooding
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