By Cassidy Roark for The Intelligencer
WHEELING, W.Va. — As flooding surged across parts of West Virginia nine days ago, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources deployed one of its crucial and highly trained emergency tools, the Swift Water Rescue units.
Sergeant Dennis Feazell, the DNR’s statewide Swift Water Rescue coordinator, said DNR officers conducted 18 rescues on the evening of June 14 in Ohio County, pulling residents from homes and vehicles as water blasted through the Valley Grove and Triadelphia areas.
“Some people were trapped in cars, others were stuck inside their homes,” Feazell said. “Our local officers responded immediately and did what they had to do to get people out safely.”
The rescues were just the start. By Monday and Tuesday of last week, as the floodwater receded and the recovery operation began, Feazell and five other highly trained Swift Water instructors moved from rescue mode to vehicle recovery and damage assessment. They worked alongside local tow operators and cleared 24 flooded vehicles from the waterways — helping to prevent debris from causing additional hazardous conditions for future storms.
“The swift response is the result of years of planning”, Feazell said.
