Where will toxic mold strike next?

July 11, 2001

http://news.lycos.com/news/story.asp?section=Breaking & storyId=199617

W.Va. Families Dig Out After Floods

Wednesday, July 11, 2001 3:32 a.m. EDT

By VICKI SMITH Associated Press Writer

KINCAID, W.Va. (AP) - West Virginia residents seeking help from devastating

flooding instead encountered looters who rummaged through the debris and

gawkers who snapped pictures of the twisted wreckage.

In Sonja Wolfe's driveway stood a ``yard sale'' sign atop a pile of

mud-caked furniture - a sarcastic jab at the passers-by who scrounged for

souvenirs but didn't stop to help or bring safe drinking water.

``We thought if they'd do that, they'd be dumb enough to take this stuff,''

Wolfe's daughter, Missy s, said Tuesday as the family sat on the

front porch.

Police said they had received about 40 reports of looting but made no

arrests.

``We didn't think people would steal from other people who have suffered in

broad daylight, but we have people doing that,'' said Lt. Col. Ed Kornish, a

National Guard liaison officer.

The weekend deluge did an estimated $20 million in damage, caused at least

one death and swamped about 3,500 homes in the state. The hardest-hit area

was in the coalfields of southern West Virginia, where many residents don't

have flood insurance.

In Mullens, the floods ravaged nearly all three-dozen businesses in the town

of 2,900, which saw water as high as 12 feet from the Guyandotte River and

runoff from steep mountains. The flooding has left many on the verge of

closing their doors for good.

``Most of the businesspeople are older people. It's going to be a real

decision for a lot of them because a lot of businesses are marginal,'' said

Dr. Sam Muscari Sr., who has been in Mullens since 1963 and believes he has

an obligation to keep his practice open. ``They don't make great livings.

And it depends on how much help we get.''

Eight counties were declared federal disaster areas Tuesday.

The flooding left a smelly muck near what used to be Bill Waddell's

three-bedroom home. Half still sits on its concrete foundation, the back

wall caved in. The other half, a pile of broken boards, twisted siding and

disintegrated insulation, sits at a bend in a nearby creek.

``We'll make it somehow,'' Waddell said. ``We've got to rebuild. It's just

going to be a lot of hard work.''

The storm also washed away Wolfe's first floor and sent her disabled

40-year-old son to the hospital in respiratory distress.

Hurt, who at age 70 has seen his home fill with water once before,

set photo albums on a table to air out, hoping something can be salvaged.

His wife, Janet, was too upset to help with the cleanup, but she's already

decided they will start anew on the house that had fresh carpets, a new roof

and recently painted siding.

``She said, 'I'm not leaving here. It's home,''' Hurt said. ``We'll just

clean up and pray it doesn't happen again.''

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On the Net:

FEMA: http://www.fema.gov

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