Neighbors helping neighbors
Derek Redd/The Intelligencer
While last weekend’s flash flooding and torrential rainfall exacted punishment on homeowners and motorists here, the storms proved deadly for our neighbors to the southwest, in nearby Ohio County, W.Va.
And the stories coming out of the Wheeling area in the days after the disaster are nothing less than gut-wrenching.
A woman, unable to swim and desperate to escape the rising water inside her home, clung to a trash can with her dog, but was swept away by the swift-moving current. Tragically, she and seven others – including a toddler – were no match for the powerful floodwaters that raged through their neighborhoods. An 83-year-old woman remained missing Friday.
Homes were swept from foundations, their stunned owners helpless, watching in horror as their belongings were carried off with the raging water.
As an estimated 3 to 4 inches of rain fell in under an hour, creeks spilled their banks and streets became rivers. Vehicles and other large pieces of debris were ferried off by the fierce currents, their forward motion halted only by bridge abutments and other infrastructure blocking their path.
In the wake of the “unicorn event,” as West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrissey called it, the area resembles a war zone.
Almost immediately, volunteers from near and far mobilized. They rolled up their sleeves and went to the flood-ravaged communities to help shovel mud, clean homes and offer support. They organized drives, collecting food, clothing, cleaning supplies and household goods to distribute to flood victims, some of whom escaped with nothing more than the clothes on their backs.
A group of Wheeling-area moms offered to wash laundry for those in need of clean clothing while a Cincinnati, Ohio, nonprofit brought its “Tide Loads of Hope” truck containing washers and dryers to Walmart at The Highlands. Affected households were invited to drop off laundry for volunteers to wash, dry and fold.
Neighbors helping neighbors, strangers helping strangers, all coming together in a crisis.
In these contentious times, it is heartening to see people set aside their differences to support one another in whatever way they can.
Flood victim T.J. Parsons, while lugging buckets of mud from the basement of his Elm Grove home to the bank of nearby Wheeling Creek, told a reporter he considered himself lucky, all things considered. He said he was impressed by the spirit of community demonstrated by his neighbors and others who have pitched in to help.
“The community has been amazing,” he said. “I’ve seen people drive past with free supplies and food. Just the offering of help has been amazing. It’s restored my faith in humanity a little bit.”
Ours, too.