STOPOVER, KENTUCKY - Tommy Hurley survived two previous floods in eastern Kentucky. The latest one has him thinking about finally moving elsewhere.
Hurley's house disappeared into a rain-swollen Knox Creek on Thursday. He found a portion of it lodged against a walnut tree more than 100 yards downstream.
``Third time's the charm,'' he said Monday. ``If I can get a place in the area, I'll gladly move.''
The floods and mudslides were blamed for at least six deaths in West Virginia and two in Virginia. Four people were still missing in West Virginia, and one man was missing and presumed drowned in Kentucky.
President Bush issued a federal disaster declaration Sunday for four counties in West Virginia and two in Virginia. About 2,400 homes and businesses in West Virginia were damaged, according to preliminary damage estimates.
Terri Osborne, spokeswoman for Kentucky's Pike County Division of Emergency Management, said local officials, along with representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, still are assessing the state's damage.
She said she doesn't yet know how many homes were damaged or destroyed. ``It will definitely be in the hundreds, no doubt,'' Osborne said.
Area residents braced for more rain. The National Weather Service said flooding was possible Tuesday through Thursday as a cold front passes through the area.
In addition to more than 500 homes and businesses damaged or destroyed in the area, one elementary school in West Virginia's McDowell County was destroyed and 11 others were damaged.
``It's conceivable we may not get some of these students back this year,'' county school Superintendent Mark Manchin said Monday from Iaeger High School, where 4 feet of water rushed into the school Thursday.
Despite a huge pile of muddy, ruined books that is steadily growing on the street outside the Welch Public Library, head librarian Donna Morgan is determined to remain upbeat.
``We've lost at least half our books, our public computers and the children's department is in ruins, but this library will not close. We will be reopening,'' Morgan said.
Floodwaters rose as high as 12 feet in some buildings in Hurley, Va. In one trailer community, at least four mobile homes disappeared, leaving nothing visible but their hookups.
``I tell you, this is the worst I've seen it in my life,'' Jerry Young, an unemployed coal miner whose trailer was soaked but still standing, told visiting Gov. Mark R. Warner and U.S. Sen. George Allen.
In Kentucky, rescue crews have been searching the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River since Friday for Adam Daniels, 24, of Freeburn. Police said Daniels was swept away by the current when he got out of his car, which stalled in high water.
Most people who were chased away by the high waters along the Tug Fork have been able to return to their homes to shovel away the layer of mud that the water left behind.
In Freeburn, Ky., Bert Hatfield's home was filled with water, as was the office of his used-car lot. Though discouraged by the damage, Hatfield said he is thankful that more people didn't die in the onslaught.
``You'd just have to phrase it as a miracle,'' he said. ``I'm amazed.''
Wednesday
July 16th, 2025
2:07AM
