Compiled from Staff Reports

WHEELING — Pulling people from stranded cars as creeks rose. Feeding hundreds a hot meal when such a thing became a luxury. Or just offering someone who needs it the comfort of clean clothes.

The flash flooding that struck Valley Grove, Triadelphia and parts of Elm Grove last weekend have left thousands devastated. At least eight lives have been lost, along with millions of dollars in property damage.

Yet through that tragedy, residents of the Ohio Valley have shown the power of community. They have banded together since the flood waters first raced through those areas to help their neighbors in need.

Below are just some of the countless examples our reporters found this past week of how valley residents are assisting others.

Wading Waist-High

Flood Waters To Assist

Those Needing Help

Let it never be said that politicians won’t jump into the fray.

Ohio County Commissioner and Elm Grove business owner Randy Wharton found himself nearly waist-deep in flood water Saturday night as he and his son, David, helped Wheeling Police officers assist and rescue residents in the Lumber Avenue and Overbrook neighborhoods.

Wharton operates Wharton Auto Service And Used Cars on Lumber Avenue, while his son David has Wharton’s Bait Shop located behind the business.

The commissioner, a former Wheeling police officer, explained he knew the water under Shilling Bridge was rising because “I could see it coming up on my security cameras.”

“My son got to the shop before I did. I just barely got there in time. … I got in my car and got down there just before the police shut the whole thing off. The water came up very quickly,” he said.

The Whartons quickly began moving cars out of their lot to higher ground, but then found themselves assisting members of the Wheeling Police Department with boat rescues in the neighborhood.

The officers were Colin Jamison, Ryan Moore and Robert Scott.

“Somehow or other, somebody came up with one of those plastic two-man fishing boats,” Wharton said. “I’m not sure where it came from, or where it went when they were done with it. We also had a small jon boat on our lot that they were able to utilize.

“There were people on porches in Overbrook who were stranded. Three Wheeling policemen went behind the shop and worked their way to getting people into the boats. Then we brought them to the back of my parking lot, and David and I helped get them out of the boats.”

The group then proceeded on foot on Overbrook Avenue, where there were people stranded on porches.

“We just wanted to check in and make sure everybody was OK,” Wharton said. “The water was up over your knees — nearly waist-deep in spots. …

“It’s rough walking through that waist-high water — especially when you’re an old man.”

Wharton is 73.

While the officers went to check for people in tough situations, Wharton stayed down on Lumber Avenue with David and some Wheeling firefighters.

“All of us proceeded over to Overbrook, just to see if some of the people were on their porches and if they were OK,” he continued. “Some were wanting assistance, and we were able to help them with that.

“I could hear on the police radio that there was a call going out to an address on Lumber Avenue where there was a child that was having some health issues. There were no lights, no electricity, so we walked down to that house to try to help the Wheeling Fire Department find where it was because you couldn’t see. Two firemen came but they couldn’t get their truck down, so they walked down on foot. My son was in the house with another first responder, but once they got there they let them take over.

“The water came up fast. It ran very hard and swift with a lot of debris for a long time,” he continued. “Then when it receded, it receded quickly, also.

“The one thing that was very eerie was at about 1 a.m., everything was really quiet except for the water running. You could hear the storage containers and the cars banging into the Shilling Bridge and scraping their way underneath it.”

As for what happened to his property, Wharton said about an inch of water came onto the floor of the bait shop, leaving about ¾-inch of mud.

He estimates about 4 inches of water surrounded his garage and building. But the doors on the structure were sealed tightly enough that only a small amount came inside.

The Whartons worked until about 4:30 a.m. hosing out their structures.

“We got it cleaned up for the most part — everything except the parking lot,” he said. “We are going to have to replace some stuff back in the bait shop. We lost a refrigerator, freezer and inventory and stuff like that. And when you lose power like that, a lot of the live bait in those bait tanks died too.

“The (garage) is OK. The parking lot just needs some clean up. But it’s not bad. We’re open. It’s dusty and dirty. There’s a lot of traffic on Lumber Avenue, although it can’t go anywhere (with the Shilling Bridge still closed).”

Feeding The Hungry At His Place And Abroad

Chef Adam Luiso of Chef N Company knew there would be plenty of hungry people following the flooding, and many of them had lost their ability to cook, be it from power outages or destroyed kitchens.

So Luiso invited anyone looking for a hot meal to come to his place, the American Legion Post 1 headquarters in Elm Grove. By Sunday night, he and other volunteers were hard at work preparing hundreds of meals for their first dinner Monday night.

It wasn’t long after, though, that Luiso came to a realization.

“Whenever you go out into this community right now and you see the devastation and everything people are going through, people can’t make it here,” he said.

It became not enough to invite people to come to him — he needed to take those meals to them.

Luiso and volunteers delivered around 500 meals that first night and 750 the next, he said. The plan, he said, is to feed between 3,500 and 5,000 a week.

“If we can make that kind of impact and help feed people, then they don’t have to worry about food and they can focus on what’s really important — getting back to their lives,” he said.

Luiso himself has been amazed by the community’s generosity. Groups of people have come to the Post 1 headquarters asking what they can do to help him, so they get to work chopping vegetables and preparing food. Countless people, organizations and restaurants have donated raw food items like beef, chicken and pork, along with vegetables. Most of the food prepared, he said, has come from donations.

Luiso said he doesn’t see himself ending this operation anytime soon.

“We’re going to try to do this as long as we possibly can,” he said. “These people that need help, it’s not just going to be next week or next month. We’re going to try to make this as sustainable as possible.”

Luiso is not the only chef to help those in need. Generations provided meals for several days at the Triadelphia Town Hall, and The Alpha Tavern fed many helping with the recovery. Ruttenbuck’s at Dallas Pike served as a central drop point for residents looking to donate items, and McDonald’s and other restaurants allowed uniformed first-responders to eat for free while donating a portion of their proceeds back to the flood recovery.

The Difference A Basket Of Clean Clothes Makes

A group of Ohio Valley moms have clothes washers and dryers — and they know how to use them. And they’re using them now to provide flood victims with an overlooked comfort that may not seem big, but means a lot when you’re spending your days cleaning inches of mud out of your house.

This group of moms is providing their washers and dryers to flood victims for loads of clean clothes.

“In looking for ways to help, sometimes you have to get creative,” said Brean Vaske, one of the members of this laundry network. “And when you’re a work-at-home mom, one of the things you’re really good at is laundry.”

Vaske said the idea was the brainchild of her friend Megan Coffman, who posted looking for people to join the group. She quickly put together a network of nearly two dozen ready to open their laundry rooms to flood victims.

“Megan does a phenomenal job of making sure people are aware of a problem,” Vaske said, “but also making sure that she offers a solution. And once there’s a solution, it’s much easier for people to say, hey, I can help with that.”

While in the throes of a natural disaster, it may not seem like some clean clothes rise to the top of the list of needs or desires. But Vaske said the group is learning quickly that it’s something essential.

“In that situation, there are a few things I would want,” she said, “and one of them is clean clothes.”

MoTown Brings Reinforcements

Sierra Club WV Chapter Chair Jim Kotcon and Beyond Coal Campaign Organizer Lisa Di Bartolomeo headed up to Wheeling on Tuesday with a car full of donations from Morgantown residents for flood recovery efforts.

The two had already planned the trip to host a remote site for a Public Service Commission hearing at the Ohio County Public Library regarding a proposed rate increase. However, their journey took on another purpose as they headed to the Friendly City with assistance after the flash flooding.

“Since we were already going to be up here for the AEP rate case hearing, I put out a call on social media and said, ‘Hey, Morgantown folks, get me what you’ve what you want to donate by 3 p.m. on Tuesady and we’ll take it up to Wheeling for you,'” Di Bartolmeo recalled. “In the 24 hours after that, my porch became a staging ground for donations.”

The two dropped off donations of cleaning supplies, gloves, bleach, toilet paper, paper towels, pet food, granola bars and feminine hygiene products at the Guntry on Tuesday before heading to the rate hearing.

“One of my friends went to Sam’s Club and spent her $150 in Sams Cash on donations to send up here,” Di Bartolomeo said. “Another woman from New Orleans who has had experiences with flooding bought a bunch of things. People in Morgantown really wanted to come out and care for Wheeling and Fairmont after the flooding.”

Di Bartolomeo said she was not surprised by the amount of donations they received, noting that communities have accepted mutual aid as “the new normal” since COVID-19.

“Ever since COVID, people really recognize that communities all have to stand up for one another and help each other out,” Di Bartolomeo said. “I wasn’t surprised, but I was really happy to see so many people bring donations.”

A Customer Appreciation Day Takes on a New Purpose

Main Street Bank in Wheeling transformed its Customer Appreciation Day on Friday into a flood relief effort to reach out to customers and the greater community impacted by the flooding.

The bank’s main lobby was transformed into a collection area as employees and customers dropped off donations. The 18 other Main Street Bank branches followed suit, accepting donations of bottled water, cleaning supplies, pantry-safe food items, pet food, personal hygiene products and monetary donations.

The bank will also match the total amount of money donated by the employees.

Main Street Bank Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Donnie Sheller said collecting donations was “the least” the organization could do to help.

“So many people have suffered so much loss, and it is just heartbreaking,” Sheller said. “We are currently working with area leaders to direct donated items where they need to go. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in the community impacted by the recent devastating floods.”

Main Street Bank Wheeling Commercial Lender Nick Sparachane helped organize donations with coworkers on Friday. He said it was “important” for the bank to add flood relief to its celebrations because the event coincided with the branch’s 24th anniversary.

“Three things came together today, as it is West Virginia Day, which is the day that this branch opened 24 years ago,” Sparachane said. “Our Customer Appreciation Day to celebrate that milestone now also coincides with the local flooding, so we wanted to come together and try to help out as much as we could.”

Sparachane said the bank had already collected “a couple of fulls” of donations not even an hour into the day and added they “just keep piling up.”

“We appreciate how much the community supports us, and anytime we can help them back, we love doing it,” Sparachane said. “We’ve been in the area for 24 years at this branch and hope to keep going strong.”

A Neighboring Town Lends a Hand

Moundsville City Manager Rick Healy knows the devastation and heartbreak that flooding can bring, as the city can receive the same or even worse impact from flooding events as Wheeling.

The flash flooding last Saturday was an instance of Wheeling experiencing a wave of flooding that did not touch the neighboring city. Healy noted that if the storm had shifted south to Moundsville, the storm would have “seen a large impact” on Middle Grave and Big Grave Creeks, resulting in flooding.

Knowing the devastation flooding can bring, local city entities and other organizations in Moundsville, including fire and police departments, have assisted the Friendly City following the flooding.

“We have city entities helping and a couple of churches collecting donations,” Healy said. “I know they’ve also collected some donations at Moundsville Middle School. We want to help out because we very easily could be on the other side.”