I am still here safe and sound.

Started by Redoverfarm, June 26, 2016, 09:30:53 PM

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Redoverfarm

The mountain state recently suffered a major blow from Mother Nature.  The flood of 2016 which has affected 44 out of 55 counties.  One of the hardest hit areas was 30 miles from my house in the community of White Sulphur Springs which got 9.25 inches of rain in about 2 hours.  The devastation was wide spread to the southern portion of the state.  The loss of life is listed as 24 which is amazing given the damage.  Unlike the Midwest floods that spread on an open area these were contained within small communities which sit in the mountain terrain and the mountain run off to small streams and small rivers attributed to the damage.  A lot of the small towns were essentially cut off as the only access roads were destroyed. 

Thanks to everyone that sent messages to inquire about my well being.  I suffered only minor damage at my property and other than having to stay in town on Friday evening because the roads were flooded to my house after assisting with the evacuation in town I feel fortunate. We have been running off of generator power since Thursday morning until 5PM tonight.

Here are a few photographs.

This photograph is actually mountain run off making it's way down to the town below.



As you can see in these photographs once the water has subsided these are actually very small streams normally. In some cases were only ravines down the mountain sides.













Now to add insult to injury the National Weather Service has issued a Flash Flood warning for Monday in the same area that was hit on Thursday. 




Don_P

Wow
It largely passed us by rather violently
Glad you made it through ok.
I guess it took out the repairs you showed us at the creek a year or two ago.


MountainDon

Thanks for the info John. We are glad you are safe.  I seem to remember the name White Sulphur Springs from when Karen and I were out there.

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

glenn kangiser

Looks like a lot of work ahead to get things repaired there.  Glad you are safe.

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

poppy

Thanks for the update John.  Glad you are safe.


pocono_couple

hi John,   I have not visited this site in a while, but thought that you may have posted something about the flood..  sorry to hear about the devastation..   our time in  white sulphur springs was so enjoyable.. hard to believe that life there is radically changed, and I imagine that it will be a very long term recovery / rebuild  effort..   good to know that you all are fine..  take care,   jason

Redoverfarm

Jason I am not sure the houses that you worked on are still standing or not but imagine they did suffer damage as most of the residences there did.  Given it's location I would say it was affected.  You can't imagine the damage which is probably one of the states worst hit areas.  I found this picture in the flood photographs.  Without a word said I would say that this picture pretty well depicts the desperation and sadness felt by those affected. It will take years to build back but as JFK said in one of his visits to West Virginia  "  The sun doesn't always shine on West Virginia but the people always do"   Thanks for your inquiry.


Redoverfarm

Quote from: MountainDon on June 26, 2016, 11:34:48 PM
Thanks for the info John. We are glad you are safe.  I seem to remember the name White Sulphur Springs from when Karen and I were out there.

Yes Don you went through part of it.  That is 31 miles south of my house.  That is the location that you intersected with Route # 92 toward the cabin.

NM_Shooter

Dang John, just logged in after a while away.  So sorry for your community.  I am glad that you are well.

Frank
"Officium Vacuus Auctorita"


Redoverfarm

Quote from: NM_Shooter on July 30, 2016, 09:57:22 AM
Dang John, just logged in after a while away.  So sorry for your community.  I am glad that you are well.

Frank

Yes Frank I was very fortunate.  One community of White Sulphur Springs ( Home of the Greenbrier Resort) about 30 miles south of me was really hit hard.  In fact one of the members of the band that Steven plays with had his house demolished.  The recovery is still ongoing and probably will be for months & years to come. Still a couple of people that they had never found and probably never will.  The out pouring of help has been amazing.  Probably more appreciated than the government's assistance.  Thanks for asking.

John

John Raabe

Wow, what a convincing expression of what a powerful rain storm can do in  a short period of time. The whole thing passed me by up here is Washington - which is not to say that we haven't had similar tragedies in the last few years.

Sounds like John and family are safe. Thanks for the report.
None of us are as smart as all of us.

kenhill

Quote from: Redoverfarm on July 30, 2016, 10:43:00 AM
Yes Frank I was very fortunate.  One community of White Sulphur Springs ( Home of the Greenbrier Resort) about 30 miles south of me was really hit hard.  In fact one of the members of the band that Steven plays with had his house demolished.  The recovery is still ongoing and probably will be for months & years to come. Still a couple of people that they had never found and probably never will.  The out pouring of help has been amazing.  Probably more appreciated than the government's assistance.  Thanks for asking.

John

Greenbrier Resort, is that where the Geological survey used to be located?

Redoverfarm

Quote from: kenhill on August 01, 2016, 11:27:47 AM
Greenbrier Resort, is that where the Geological survey used to be located?

Not familiar with that but it is the location of the secret underground bunker.  Well it was secret for several decades until it leaked out in 1992.  Built in 1958 to house all members of the House & Senate in case of a nuclear attack. It was known only to very few people and was maintained by the government.  They now give tours of it on a daily basis.   Here is video of it's history   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3kAcJruEOs

azgreg

The Greenbrier is also where the New Orleans Saints have their training camp.


Redoverfarm

Quote from: azgreg on August 01, 2016, 01:04:40 PM
The Greenbrier is also where the New Orleans Saints have their training camp.

Yes.  Jim Justice the owner of the Greenbrier built a training facility for them a couple years ago.  Has three fields if I recall correctly.  They are there now I believe.  They took their first day helping restore some flood damage to the town of White Sulphur.  I was never a big fan of them ( or any other team) but this sheds a new light on their character.