Trending
It was a wet week for the Kump house. The rains came fast and hard about 7 a.m. Tuesday morning, and water rushed down the drive and under the doors into the garage and basement. It flowed all the way to the back of the classroom. Several other drains overflowed in town where the storm sewer system does not have room for all the water that comes with a heavy rain.
The Tygart Valley River encircles the swampy space where Elkins was built.There had been a prehistoric lake here covering this land with water until the river broke through to the west toward Belington, and the lake water drained away. This low place in the mountain range created an opening where Henry G. Davis decided to establish a major railroad center in the late 19th century,
Now Elkins has creeks flowing under the streets, and drains overflow often on the swampy side of town when we have heavy rains. I live behind the U.S. Forest Service building where Buffalo Creek enters a culvert that flows under Buffalo Street.
I am used to seeing water backed up in drains here in Wees Addition, but I did not think about flooding at Kump Center on Tuesday until I got there about 10 a.m. to prepare for meetings. We spent the rest of Tuesday moving wet things and mopping floors between meetings, but our best help was Bob Wilmoth with his Shop-Vac.
On Wednesday I sent an email to Mike Kesecker and Melody Himes at the City Operations Office to tell them that we had been flooded and to ask for help.
Mike sent out Chris Carr from the City to help us figure out the peculiar drainage and gutter problems that we have at Kump Center. Chris met me at 8 a.m. Thursday -- just as the Operations Manager had promised.
We walked around the house inside and out, and we could see how the flash flood hit the Kump basement particularly hard. There is a drainage ditch at the bottom of the drive near the garage doors where the water should go down and run off to the south, but sycamore seeds, yellow holly leaves, and other debris had filled half of the space where the water should go down and out to the wetland. In the afternoon, Chris returned with the huge, blue, City truck to suck out all the debris from the drain near the garage doors.
Chris also helped to troubleshoot the gutter problems from the roof in back of house. He was very helpful because he knew a great deal about old houses and their idiosyncrasies. He said the City could send in a camera used for sewers to look down the drain pipes near the back porch and observe the condition inside the pipes and find out where the pipes flow away from the house.
After our June 24th "Wild, Wonderful Woods" event, we need to make changes in the gutters and drains. Although I am not sure that any drain can take all the water that runs off the property, I do believe the City of Elkins has the capacity to take care of drainage problems at Kump Center.