Darlene Philabaum and her family spent part of their Monday afternoon pushing sludge away from the doors of their business, Philabaum Garage and Auto Repair in Valley Grove. Husband Fritz is the third-generation owner.

The family’s homes were fortunate in the Saturday night flash flood that sent torrential waters smashing through that community, as well as Elm Grove, Triadelphia and Woodsdale. They were high enough on the hills to get water in their basements, but nothing else.

The garage, however, was the opposite story.

Sitting right along National Road in Valley Grove, the business bore the full brunt of the flood waters. They blew out the garage’s back wall to where a gap allows you to see the creek below. Tools have gone missing, likely floating away down the creek. So did the garage’s furnace.

“As we keep cleaning up, we’ll probably find some more missing,” Philabaum said.

They were much luckier with the cars being worked on, high enough on platforms that they stayed above the water line and weren’t part of the fleet that many residents saw careening through Valley Grove and Triadelphia on Saturday night.

“We’re all OK, she said, “but the business got hit really bad.”

The Philabaums now find themselves in the same predicament as so many other families and businesses in Ohio County — cleaning up flood damage that in some places is so immense, they have a hard time figuring out where to start. Yet an army of help — from state and local governments and just neighbors wanting to lend a hand — is at the ready to do what they can to assist in the process.

Valley Grove Mayor Chad Kleeh was out of town Saturday night when the flood engulfed the village. But he was in the car at 5 a.m. Sunday morning to return home and start leading the charge for recovery.

As he was able to survey the damage that morning, he said it was stunning, almost paralyzing.

“It’s like a tornado went through here,” he said. “The church is leaning, the pavement in my parking lot is gone, and as you go on down the road, it keeps getting worse and worse.”

The Valley Grove Assembly of God Church, which stands next door to Philabaum’s garage, was standing crooked as part of the foundation had been washed away. The next building over was the Valley Grove Community Center and village offices, where large chunks of pavement had been gouged out of the parking lot and Kleeh was welcomed Sunday morning to four inches of muck in its garage.

Traveling back toward Triadelphia on National Road, the destruction multiplied. Bridges were washed out. Vehicles were left laying in the creek. Mud and muck caked roads and sidewalks. Residents pulled ruined furniture from their homes.

By Monday morning, though, Kleeh was informed of the plan. West Virginia Division of Highways crews would come through first, clearing as many roads as possible and testing the integrity of roads and bridges. When they finished, members of the West Virginia Army National Guard would follow, traveling up and down the roads collecting the piles of trash accumulating from damaged homes. They’ll continue up and down the roads until that refuse is gone.

Lou Vargo, director of Wheeling-Ohio County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, said fleets of heavy equipment have been very active along the disaster areas from Wheeling to Valley Grove.

In many cases — especially during search and rescue operations — crews removing debris utilize special equipment that can carefully remove layers piece by piece. Excavators with a “thumb” are examples of heavy equipment that can do just that, Vargo explained, noting that this specialized equipment is used in situations where crews need to remove debris while not damaging vulnerable water and sewer lines.

“There are places where pipes are just hanging there — like in Valley Grove,” Vargo said. “There’s no support there because all the ground around it has been washed away.”

If city and county agencies do not have the needed heavy equipment in-house, the West Virginia Department of Highways and the National Guard has access to a lot of different kinds of heavy equipment that is made available for use during the recovery mission, Vargo noted.

Private companies also offer use of their big machinery to help in the coordinated efforts.

“We’ve had companies say ‘hey we have cranes’ or we have this or that,” Vargo said. “The response has been overwhelming.”

As debris is removed, state crews have been inspecting bridges to make sure they were not damaged by the force of the flood waters combined with the accumulation of tons of material around the bases of the bridges. The Monument Place Bridge and Shilling Bridge in Elm Grove were reopened after initially being closed, officials noted.

“Basically, we had to get that debris out, and then the DOH had to get there and inspect them to make sure they were passable,” Vargo said. “In terms of the roadways — not only do we want to keep people out of there because of sightseeing, the road might be damaged. We’ve actually had people move our cones and drive around them. That’s why we had to get military police and the sheriff’s department supporting our operations to get them out of there.”

Vargo said many of the teams have been utilizing machinery to pull larger items from the creeks as soon as possible.

While larger organizations are handling the extra large recovery jobs. Local volunteer groups are stepping in to handle smaller, but equally important tasks. These volunteers may not be clearing trees from roads, but they’re helping residents clean out their homes.

Ohio Valley Mutual Aid had set up a tent by Wheelcraft Bicycles in Elm Grove and was humming with activity Monday afternoon. Those in need of cleaning supplies were able to stop by for mops, cleaning fluids and more. Polly Barks, who was handing the volunteer coordination for that day, was corralling small groups to send to homes throughout Ohio County. Early Monday afternoon, the organization had 18 different teams in the community clearing mud from homes and helping residents start the recovery process.

The group would rather not have so many requests that all 18 teams were deployed. They’d rather not have any at all. They’d rather everyone be safe and comfortable. But she said it was great that so many volunteers were at the ready that no one had to wait.

“The foundation of mutual aid is community care,” Barks said. “And this is showing that the community cares, and that we’re showing up.”

Chef Matt Welsch of Vagabond Kitchen had come to the Mutual Aid tent Monday to see if they needed help. Soon after, he was leading a cleanup team and helping coordinate volunteer deployments. He said something like this was a great example of community spirit in action.

“It’s just another hub of help,” Welsch said. “The biggest thing is manpower, getting hands out into the field and getting people help. And a lot of it, too, I feel, is emotional support, letting people know that we’re here for you. You’re not forgotten. You’re cared for.”

Kleeh also has marveled at the way his neighbors in Valley Grove have stepped up to help each other. Residents with heavy equipment had it out in force, helping clear trees, push gravel out of the road or pull cars out of ravines. From Sunday on, he said, people would approach him — some he knew, some he didn’t — with a simple question: “How can I help?”

“It actually gets me teared up a little bit,” Kleeh said. “I’ve been so impressed with how this community has come together. People are bringing their equipment in, volunteering their time, volunteering their money.”

Neither Kleeh nor Philabaum, also a member of Valley Grove Council, have given a thought to how long it will take or how much money it will take for Valley Grove to recover. But Philabaum believes her village will bounce back.

“We’re a good little community,” she said. “It’s a lot of damage, a lot of money. But we’ll make it.”