Despite years of devastating floods, state still hasn't implemented plan to protect West Virginians

MCDOWELL COUNTY — Annetta Tiller is used to water in her yard and her basement; rain swelling the Tug River and its tributaries over their banks is a regular occurrence in McDowell County. But every three or four years, the water will get a little higher, and Tiller and her family will spend hours carrying their belongings out of their home in Bartley and into cars, later parked on top of hills out of the river’s reach.

“It makes you cry because you know you’re going to lose stuff that you don’t have time to save,” Tiller said.

Tiller grew up in Bartley and has seen this play out over and over again. And it’s more than just personal belongings that are affected by the flooding. When the rain comes down hard, the whole community is hit: homes and businesses are devastated, bridges wash out, utility poles are toppled and roadways are destroyed.

“Whenever they’re flooded here, it’s hard for them to bounce back,” Tiller said. “There’s infrastructure that they’ve lost…. It’s really hard to replace those things.”

Read more: https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2022/01/05/wv-still-hasnt-implemented-flood-plan/