Two people are dead following catastrophic flash floods that swept through West Virginia earlier this week, the governor’s office confirmed on Thursday.
A written statement from Lars Dalseide, the communications director for Gov. Patrick Morrisey, offered no specifics on where the victims were discovered or the exact circumstances of their deaths. The identities of those who died have not yet been released.
These are the first confirmed fatalities linked to Tuesday’s flooding event. Weather forecasters reported that some areas received as much as 7 inches — roughly 18 centimeters — of rainfall. Gov. Morrisey noted that certain locations were hit with 4.5 inches, or about 11.4 centimeters, of rain in just 37 minutes. Authorities in the north-central region of West Virginia have characterized the destruction as widespread and severe.
Images and videos circulating on social media painted a grim picture of the flooding’s impact. Vehicles were shown completely submerged in parking lots, including at a Walmart location in Weston where muddy floodwaters poured directly into the store. Across a nearby highway, the ground floor of a hotel was also overtaken by water. Rescue crews were called in throughout the region to pull dozens of people from vehicles trapped by floodwaters, with access to some victims initially blocked by the rising water.
Editor’s note: This story corrects the day the deaths were announced to Thursday, not Wednesday.
