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ELKINS -- The City of Elkins has been offering support to Buckhannon and Weston after their areas faced a devastating flood last week, officials report.
During Elkins City Council’s July 23 meeting, Mayor Jerry Marco asked Council and residents of Elkins to keep the cities of Buckhannon and Weston in their prayers after severe thunderstorms led to rapid, massive and devastating flooding throughout Upshur and Lewis counties. Marco also thanked City of Elkins employees for doing what they can to “lighten the load” for Buckhannon, noting that several city entities have been on-site to assist Buckhannon.
“I know we’ve had five different departments go out,” Marco said during the meeting. “We’ve had the fire department and the police go out immediately (on Tuesday). Operations (Department) has been over there. Wastewater (Department) and the Water Department have been there, so thank you to our employees.”
Marco also asked the public to be patient with the City of Elkins during this time as they are “trying to help our neighbors, which is the right thing to do.”
Also during the meeting, Elkins Operation Manager Michael Kesecker addressed his department’s role in flood relief support for Buckhannon. Kesecker stated his department sent two large dump trucks earlier that day with staffers to assist in cleaning up the area, and that they will continue to help out as much as they can.
Elkins City Wastewater System Chief Operator Whitney Hymes also reported on support her department offered to Buckhannon. Hymes said she had been in Buckhannon earlier that day and called the devastation “heartbreaking.”
“So, we will continue to go over there as needed,” Hymes said. “We took our back truck over today. That was a godsend for that community and we will continue to give where needed.”
During his report to the Council, Elkins Fire Department Chief Steve Himes stated that, when Buckhannon called their department for help Tuesday night, they sent four personnel. Two of four had recently been certified as Swiftwater Rescue Technicians. He noted that the Elkins Fire Department kept its own boat at the station as, at the time, it was unknown if Elkins would also face severe flooding like Buckhannon and Weston.
“I won’t get into a lot of the gory details, but I can tell you our people probably did things Tuesday evening that they never thought they would have to do in their wildest dreams,” Himes told the Council. “I’m kind of waiting for the dust to settle and get some more information, and then kind of compose a little more of a detailed report for everyone.”
Himes said he was very proud of the skill and professionalism that his crew displayed, but also stated that he “expected nothing less.” He also noted that swiftwater teams from Fairmont, Farmington, Bridgeport, Charleston, Wheeling and Belington also responded to Weston and Buckhannons’ calls for help Tuesday night.
At the end of the meeting, Marco said he has been in constant contact with Buckhannon Mayor Robbie Skinner and Weston Mayor Kim Harrison-Edwards. He stated that the mayors are “very appreciative” of the efforts and the support the City of Elkins is giving them.
“So once again, keep them in your prayers and be patient,” Marco said. “Like I said, it’s a long clean-up process and, as Whitney said earlier, we need to do what we can to help them. They would do the same for us, so it’s the right thing to do.”
The Elkins City Council will meet again at 7 p.m. Aug. 6 in the Phil Gainer Community Center.