Photo by Shelley Hanson Tombstones and trees are shown tangled in mud at the landslide at Mt. Zion Cemetery on Friday.

WHEELING — Local legislators, state officials and others came together Friday to survey the massive mudslide that destroyed about 150 grave sites at Mt. Zion Cemetery near Mozart.

Charles Yocke, president of the Mt. Zion Cemetery Association that caretakes the cemetery, met with Delegates Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, and Diana Winzenreid, R-Ohio; Sen. Ryan Weld, R-Brooke; Cody Straley and Jessica Eichlin with the West Virginia Arts & Culture Commission; and Nathan Allison and Craig Arthur of A&A Monument Services of Calhoun County, W.Va.

Yocke told the group that the mudslide, which initially happened on April 3, is continuing to move. He said there is another area above the current one that appears “ready to come down.”

Yocke is hoping the state can provide funding to fix the damage, which he estimated took out between 100 and 150 gravesites and tombstones, to date.

“We’re hoping to get answers from the state and maybe federal, and to see how much it’s going to cost,” Yocke said of his goal. “We got ideas with two engineering companies to stabilize it first. That’s the main thing, to get it stabilized first. Then go through the piles of mud and get the headstones out of there and see how bad they are.

“Then the toughest part is going to be putting the stones back in place. Surveyors are going to have to do that.”

Yocke said the association is accepting donations for the restoration effort. Checks can be sent to: Wheeling Mt. Zion Cemetery Corporation, 390 Fairmont Ave., Wheeling, WV 26003.

Fluharty said state and federal officials knew right away they needed to help with the cemetery disaster.

“We have great volunteers up here, but we know this is more than just a few people picking up shovels,” Fluharty said. “This is going to take a community effort, a statewide effort and even Sen. Joe Manchin’s office got involved early. They’re doing their due diligence to see how they can help as well. We’ll throw as much against the wall as we can and see what we can do. It’s going to take all hands on deck for this.”

When Allison and Arthur learned about the cemetery mudslide they knew they wanted to help. Arthur noted he is also a commissioner in Calhoun County.

“We saw in the beginning some of the heartbreak in the cemetery with the mudslide. We went to Charleston and had a meeting with Speaker of House Roger Hanshaw to see about what kind of state funding we might be able to get to help them clean this up and get it looking nice again,” Arthur said. “It seems to be promising. It’s gaining a lot of attention both locally and nationally. I think there’s going to be some things that happen to help this.”

He noted his company can also help with cleaning and resetting gravestones.

“I think we can help out big time with this and give the families some comfort for sure,” he said.

Fluharty commended Arthur and Allison for offering their help.

“This is what we do. When things happen the state comes together,” Fluharty said. “You all reached out and you have no connections to Wheeling, and said, ‘Hey, we want to help.’ That’s exactly how things work in this state. Everyone comes together in a moment of crisis and that’s what we’re trying to do right now.”

Yocke said there have been many people calling and offering help, even those from outside of West Virginia.

“A group from Ohio, they call themselves the Jeep Club, said they would come over and shovel and do whatever you need help with,” Yocke added.

He noted since the mudslide happened about a week ago, the association has already received about $3,000 in donations for the future cleanup effort.

Straley and Eichlin were on hand to survey the damage and take photos to document the cemetery and the damage itself.