McDowell County, West Virginia — When floodwaters swept through McDowell County, West Virginia, in February, Ashley Rutherford sat in her wheelchair, unable to leave her home as water began to enter through the doorway. One of her sons put rubber rain boots on her to protect her legs from the water.
Nine weeks later, the home’s carpet remains wet. The kitchen’s wooden floor is damp and buckling, and Rutherford’s wheelchair became stuck in a new hole in front of the sink. Her family’s belongings clutter the downstairs rooms, making it difficult for her to move around.
“I’m overwhelmed,” said Rutherford, a 33-year-old mother of four. “We are currently living out of totes. “My daughter can’t find the right outfit for school.”
Rutherford lives in Berwind, one of the poor county’s southernmost towns. Residents in its hollers, many of whom are elderly, await assistance. They need federal assistance. A stove. Volunteers to help them remove the thick mud from their basements.
People in Charleston believe they have been forgotten by disaster relief agencies, nonprofit organizations, and state government leaders.
Many McDowell residents are unable or unwilling to leave their long-term family homes, so they are now sitting in damp structures, some of which still lack heat or running water, as mold begins to grow.
Mold has begun to grow in Dale Blevins’ basement in McDowell County following the flood. (Sydnei Tatum for WV Watch)
Dale Blevins, 70, stood in her damp basement, where patches of crystalized white mold had formed on the concrete walls. Volunteers cleaned out her basement after the flood; she had no idea who would come in to remove the mold. Her husband uses an oxygen tank, so the mold was probably already a threat to his health.
“I hate to ask for help,” she said, noting that she had not heard from any local or state officials. “Nobody has ever come here.”
The National Guard, church groups, and other volunteers made their way across the county to assist. Those efforts have mostly dried up. Local churches, many of which serve elderly congregations, have limited resources to assist. Residents say hundreds of homes still need to be cleared and cleaned.
“We need boots on the ground who are physically able to do the mucking outs,” said Michael Brooks, a McDowell County commissioner. “It’s hard, brutal, and time-consuming…” I’m not sure if some people realize how dire the situation is.
Sydnei Tatum, 33, a local business owner and photographer, captured the images for this story. Over the last two months, she has cleaned basements, distributed grocery gift cards, and compiled lists of residents in need of everything from beds to refrigerators.
“I’m gonna fight for these people, because they have no one else to do it for them,” she muttered.
Tatum attributed the lack of recovery efforts to state officials’ failure to prioritize McDowell County. They had downplayed the crisis, she explained.
“Purely because nobody is interested in the poorest areas of the county, and we are in it,” she told me.
In February, Governor Patrick Morrisey stated that the state “was in a position to act quickly,” while also requesting a federal disaster declaration to free up resources for affected counties.
“We want to make sure we’re helping these southern counties recover,” Morrisey said at a press conference on Feb. 20 after visiting some parts of McDowell.
His spokesperson did not respond to questions for this story about the status of recovery efforts.
The flooding, which killed three people, occurred during the legislative session, but it was not a major topic among lawmakers.
The recently approved state budget does not include dedicated funding for McDowell’s flood recovery.
Limited county funds, endless clean-up work
Carol Lester, 73, stood on her porch in Bartley, looking out over her washed-out, sandy yard. She had survived the flood, but had to be rescued by two young men as water flooded her kitchen and living room. She described how 911 couldn’t help her, and then two men arrived and carried her disabled husband through the woods for five hours in the cold rain.
“We’ve gone through five floods. “This was the worst,” said Lester, who has lived in her home for 51 years. “It seemed like you could hear the devil and his demons in that water.”
A destroyed sofa set was left in front of her house. It needed to be transported away. She was waiting for a plywood delivery, hoping that her family members could rip up her water-damaged flooring.
Lester stated that no one else had visited Tatum’s house since the flood.
Nobody cares, I’m telling you, this day and time.
Prior to the flood, McDowell was already experiencing difficulties. It is one of the poorest counties in the country, and some residents have not had access to clean drinking water in decades. Much of the county is in a flood plain, and floods have previously occurred. The county now has fewer than 18,000 residents after mining jobs dried up.
The drop in population has had an impact on county finances, which rely on local taxpayers, and Brooks explained that the majority of money collected through personal property taxes goes to the board of education.
He said there wasn’t enough left over.
The flood washed out 36 private bridges, some of which are not covered by FEMA or county funds. Certain bridges may never be repaired.
“I wish to God that we had the funds to begin fixing it. However, it is not a few thousand dollar fix. Brooks stated that some of the bridges have hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.
Brooks was irritated by social media comments claiming the county or state wasn’t doing enough. Morrisey had been helpful, he stated, and required-government processes can be slow.
“I am bombarded, as well as the other commissioners, with more questions than answers at this juncture,” he claimed. “It’s not that we’re not looking for answers or trying to dismiss these issues. But we are a small county, and we often lack resources.”
FEMA, which continues its efforts in the county, and Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) did not respond to requests for comment on this story. Some residents said they didn’t expect much assistance from the federal government.
Debris-filled water poses a future flood risk
Linda Wood’s home in the Berwind community still has damp floors.
“I’m going to need new flooring, like linoleum,” Woods, 61, explained. She lost her stove, lawnmower, clothes, shoes, and other belongings in the flood.
“I’m worried about the moisture getting under the mattress and causing mold,” she told me.
Rain is expected in McDowell this weekend, causing concern for Woods. She pointed to a nearby stream that was still filled with flood debris. She warned that if it wasn’t cleared out, another flood could hit her community at any time.
WVVA reported that the area’s stream beds have not been dredged or restored since the 1977 flood. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-West Virginia, recently visited McDowell, promising to request funds to clean up the streams in the hopes of preventing future flooding.
Earlier this year, Morrisey didn’t request funding for the state’s flood mitigation efforts through the State Resiliency Office. The Republican majority in the House of Delegates rejected a Democratic lawmakers’ proposal to include $50 million in the state budget to protect against future flooding.
Politics and state funding aren’t the main topics of discussion among McDowell residents this April. Neighbors are wondering how they will clean out their basements and remove the mountains of debris littering the roads. There are no large dumpsters in the area, so the county would have to work with the state to establish a designated dumping site.
Lester examined a holly bush in her yard that had survived the flood. Her husband purchased it for her years ago.
“God left that holly bush for a reason. It weathered the storm, but it still survived,” she said. “Every morning, when I get up, I look at the little holly bush. I get my strength from that.”
