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Floods slam central W.Va., more rain on the way

Charleston Daily Mail photo courtesy W.Va. Department of Transportation W.Va. 82 in Birch River is closed due to a landslide that happened after heavy rains Sunday. The road will take several days to reopen.
Charleston Daily Mail photo courtesy W.Va. Department of Transportation
W.Va. 82 in Birch River is closed due to a landslide that happened after heavy rains Sunday. The road will take several days to reopen.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Flooding across central West Virginia caused widespread property damage, closing roads and affecting a community hospital following heavy rains over the weekend into Monday.

As a result, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin declared a state of emergency Monday for Braxton, Webster and Wood counties — three of the hardest-hit by flooding.

The state of emergency will continue for 30 days unless terminated earlier by proclamation.

Tomblin also declared a “state of preparedness” for 35 counties: Barbour, Boone, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Greenbrier, Harrison, Jackson, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Nicholas, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Putnam, Raleigh, Randolph, Ritchie, Roane, Summers, Taylor, Tyler, Upshur, Wayne, Wirt and Wyoming.

“In the past 24 hours, areas of our state have experienced rockslides, mudslides and severe flooding as a result of major storms and substantial rainfall,” Tomblin said in a media release Monday afternoon. “State agencies have people in the field to help local offices of emergency management assess local damages, and additional state resources have been mobilized to prepare for a second major storm event expected to hit Monday evening.”

The National Guard is prepared to be deployed, Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety spokesman Larry Messina said Monday morning.

The hardest-hit counties were Wood, Webster, Braxton, Clay and Nicholas…

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