When people are asked what they’d grab first if their house caught fire, they often give practical answers — purses, wallets, laptops. They also say they’d rescue sentimental belongings — old photographs, the wedding ring passed down through generations, a quilt stitched by grandma. Even though it was a flood […]
Read MoreRemembering the Flood
While Rebuilding, Rainelle Residents Hear ‘The Song and the Sound of the Nails, and it’s Like Music to Your Ears’
Part 4 of 4: Remembering the Flood On Friday morning, June 24, 2016, people woke up to heartbreaking news of West Virginia’s flooding. Roads had given out, cars were floating into houses, people were missing, stranded and the death toll was rising as the waters receded. In Rainelle, four people had […]
Read More‘I Kept Thinking, Surely Somebody Will Come’
Part 3 of 4: Remembering the Flood On June 23, 2016 flood tore through southern West Virginia killing 23 people, four in Rainelle. Many escaped with their lives, but not without coming close to death or losing almost everything they owned. Some people were trapped in their flooded homes in […]
Read More‘Everything’s Getting Flooded Downstairs, But You Just Go Upstairs and Wait’
Part 2 of 4: Remembering the Flood One of the deadliest and most destructive floods recorded in West Virginia state history tore through the southern part of the Mountain State on Thursday, June 23, 2016. When the flood water rose in Rainelle store owners looked out for their employees and their […]
Read MoreIf There’s Another Flood, ‘I Certainly Won’t Wait for Anybody to Call Me. I’ll Just Come Down, Start Paddling’
Part 1 of 4: Remembering the Flood The town of Rainelle woke up Thursday morning of June 23, 2016 to what looked like a normal rainy day. By that afternoon, there were signs of trouble. Rainelle would be one of several towns in southern West Virginia to experience one of […]
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