WESTON, West Va. (BP) – The worst flooding in 40 years left West Virginia residents homeless and at least one Southern Baptist church evaluating damage to its facilities.
The neighboring counties of Upshur and Lewis bore the brunt of flash flooding from rains on July 21 that brought up to 7 inches in a matter of hours. Further northwest in Pleasants County, at least two tornadoes and damaging winds caused extensive structural damage. The National Weather Service is still ascertaining the EF level of those storms.
No deaths have been reported, though at least two people are missing. About 1,000 homes and businesses have been damaged statewide, according to a National Guard spokesman.
Six feet of water and mud rose in the sanctuary of New Life Southern Baptist Church in Weston. Damage extended to the fellowship hall and a clothing closet that the church uses for outreach.
A trailer and 20-kilowatt generator for Disaster Relief work were also kept at the church, West Virginia DR Director Roy Polmanteer told Baptist Press as he drove to the scene Thursday morning. “We’re going to get those moved out today and dried out, to check the equipment,” he said.
“Roads are just now opening up, and people are getting their first eyes on the [scope of the] damage,” Polmanteer added. “We’ll be getting further assessment from county leadership tomorrow. Disaster Relief teams will be coming in for us to provide help, hope and healing to those in crisis.”
New Life Pastor Dave Riddle lives about 13 miles away in Buckhannon. City leaders there announced this morning (July 23) that waters had finally receded throughout the city and crews were cleaning and sanitizing streets so as to reopen the main arteries. A shelter-in-place order has also been lifted, with a donation center established at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Riddle told BP that the church suffered extensive damage throughout its facilities, including buckled floors and damage to classrooms. A single-wide food trailer was also damaged alongside the clothes closet, with all items ruined. The parsonage wasn’t just flooded, but pushed off its foundation. Floor joists were also broken.
“Three homes belonging to our members were also damaged, one of them destroyed,” said Riddle, who has been at the church for 21 years. “I learned about the damage Tuesday evening when someone sent me pictures. I’d had phone calls that the waters were getting up to the church and had reached the windows by evening.”
Riddle had led a funeral service that day and didn’t get to the church until today. A member Facetimed him yesterday to show the amount of damage.
New Life will meet this Sunday at nearby Great Commission Community Church at 1:30 p.m. Great Commission Community is led by Nigel Bean, the former worship leader at New Life.
Riddle is from the area, a product of Lewis County High School class of ’77. He hasn’t seen flooding like this since 1985, when flooding in Upshur County killed 47 people and destroyed thousands of homes and hundreds of businesses. On Tuesday night, the Sand Run stream in Buckhannon crested at 10.6 feet, breaking the record set in 1985 of 8.3 feet.
Despite the structural damage like that to his church, he’s expecting a positive outcome.
“God’s got this,” he said. “All things work together for those who love the Lord and somehow, something good is going to come out of this. We have to lean on one another.”
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