By Dave Collins
Associated Press
WHEELING, W.Va. 鈥� Flash flooding caused by torrential rains killed five people in northern West Virginia and rescue crews were searching for three other people who were missing Sunday as authorities assessed damage to roads, bridges, natural gas lines and other infrastructure.
Officials said 2.5 to 4 inches (6 to 10 centimeters) of rain fell in parts of Wheeling and Ohio County within about a half hour on Saturday night.
鈥淲e almost immediately started getting 911 calls for rescue of people being trapped,鈥� Lou Vargo, Ohio County鈥檚 emergency management director, said at a news conference Sunday. 鈥淒uring this time, we had major infrastructure damage to roads, bridges, and highways where we couldn鈥檛 respond to a lot of incidents. So we were delayed in getting there because there was just so much damage.鈥�
Vargo added: 鈥淚t happened so quickly and so fast. 鈥� I鈥檝e been doing this for 35 years. I鈥檝e seen major floods here in the city and the county. I鈥檝e never seen anything like this.鈥�
Authorities said vehicles were swept into swollen creeks, some people sought safety in trees and a mobile home caught fire.
Similarly, swift flash flooding arrived in Marion County, south of Wheeling and Ohio County, early Sunday afternoon, causing extensive damage to bridges, roads and some homes, the county鈥檚 Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Management said in a Facebook post. The county鈥檚 911 line has already processed at least 165 calls for service since the storms began.
Gov. Patrick Morrisey declared a state of emergency in Marion County Sunday evening.
Jim Blazier, the fire chief in Wheeling in the state鈥檚 northern panhandle, said crews performed rescue operations into Sunday鈥檚 early morning hours. He said first responders regrouped Sunday morning and were focused on an area from the Ohio state line across the Ohio River to Wheeling Creek.
鈥淲e鈥檙e searching the banks, we鈥檙e searching submerged vehicles, any debris we find along the trail and so forth,鈥� Blazier said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e using drones, search dogs and swift water personnel, and we have teams organized that are searching sectors that we鈥檙e trying to recover anybody that鈥檚 missing.鈥�
There were about 2,500 reported power outages in the county Sunday, Morrisey confirmed in a news release Sunday evening, which updated the number of people confirmed dead to five, with three more missing. He has declared a state of emergency in Ohio County and mobilized the National Guard to support emergency operations.
鈥淚n many respects, this is kind of a unicorn event, because a lot of the rain had very narrow areas and there were roughly 3 to 4 inches of water that fell in the area in less than an hour,鈥� Morrisey said at a press conference earlier Sunday. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 very, very difficult to deal with.鈥�
He added, 鈥淵our friends, your neighbors, your first responders and people in the community, they鈥檙e out working very hard to find people. That鈥檚 our No. 1 task right now, trying to identify anyone who may still be out there.鈥�
The West Virginia rains followed on Thursday that killed 13 people. More than 7 inches (18 centimeters) of rain fell over a span of hours in the Texas city, causing fast-rising floodwaters to carry more than a dozen cars into a creek.
