At least 4 people are dead following a series of severe storms in northern West Virginia. The storms caused heavy flooding, leaving four people dead, including a 3-year-old child.
Meanwhile, others are missing. A press conference by Gov. Patrick Morrisey confirmed the devastating storms had killed people in the area. "This is a very difficult time for Ohio County and West Virginia," Morrisey said during the broadcast. The governor declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard to the county.
"My number one priority and that of everyone on our team, and those in the local community — it's to identify the missing individuals," Gov. Morrisey said.
Meanwhile, CBS affiliate WTRF reports that rainfall caused local waterways and infrastructure to fail. The area saw nearly 4 inches of rain.
Lou Vargo, the county's emergency management director, described the carnage from the storms.
Storms Batter West Virginia
"It happened so quickly and so fast," Vargo said during the conference. "I've been doing this for 35 years. I've seen major floods here in the city and the county. I've never seen anything like this."
"We almost immediately started getting 911 calls for rescue of people being trapped," he continued. "During this time, we had major infrastructure damage to roads, bridges, and highways, where we couldn't respond to a lot of incidents. So we were delayed in getting there because there was just so much damage."
Meanwhile, police spokesperson Phillip Stahl told WTRF that the storms caused the creeks to rise.
"The creeks rose pretty quickly," Stahl explained. "There was a massive amount of debris — debris that most people have never seen in their lives. But that was going down the creek. There were boats going down the creek sheds, furniture, gas tank, hot water tanks, conex boxes [shipping containers]. It was a pretty unbelievable sight to see."
The county is still assessing the damage from the storms.
