The yard of a home on Orchard Road, in the Fayette County community of Whipple, was flooded after heavy weekend rains.
Photo by F. Brian Ferguson | Gazette-Mail
By: Staff Reports | Posted: Feb. 11, 2018 | Source: WV Gazette-Mail
The heavy rains that led to flood warnings in much of West Virginia Sunday morning mostly moved out by afternoon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said.
The flood warning that had been in effect for southeastern Kanawha County and much of the state south of the Interstate 64 corridor and east of the Interstate 79 corridor was expected to expire Sunday afternoon.
Between 2.5 and 3.5 inches of rain fell in the region over the last couple of days, with the most recorded in the southern counties, said Ray Young, a meteorologist with the weather service. A flood watch was also in effect for much of the rest of the state.
National Weather Service meteorologist Nick Webb said Sunday morning that flooding and mudslides had closed several roadways in the southern parts of the state. A “significant” mudslide closed a portion of U.S. 52 in Delbarton Sunday morning, Webb said.
Several roadways in Boone, Clay, Fayette, Greenbrier, Raleigh, Randolph, Wayne, McDowell, Lincoln, Logan, Mercer, Mingo, Morgan and Pocahontas were still closed because of high water as of 4:30 p.m., according to the state Department of Transportation.
A rockslide was also reported on U.S. 52 at Meadowbrook Road in Bridgeport, according to the DOT. Another was reported at W.Va. 17 and Boone 19 at Bias Branch.
Young said Sunday afternoon that most of the streams in the area are beginning to recede, with the exception of that in the Tug Fork Valley. Some larger streams in the central and northern mountains were expected to start receding later Sunday afternoon.
A Kanawha County Metro 911 dispatcher said there were no reports of high water closing roadways.
Only backed-up drains and “nuisance” flooding were reported, he said.
A flood warning is issued when a weather event is imminent or already happening. A flood watch is issued when conditions are favorable for the weather event to occur.
The flood warning was also in effect for small streams in southwestern Randolph County, Pocahontas County, Nicholas County, north central Raleigh County, southern Webster County, southwestern Clay County, Fayette County and northern Boone County.
