Editor’s Notes: A history of deadly flash floods
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July 21, 2026, will live in the memories of several communities across West Virginia for years.
It is rare enough for ONE tornado to touch down in our region -- often many years will go by without even an event that makes some suspect there was a tornado. But TWO? That's the kind of thing that happens in Oklahoma or Kansas, not southeastern Ohio and northern West Virginia, right?
The last time wind did so much damage here was the derecho in the summer of 2012.
As I read the reports coming in Wednesday, I noted an impressive tale from former state Sen. Donna Boley, who may have been a bit understated when after the destruction of her home and car when the tornado tore off the roof, flattened her garage and caused her caretaker to sustain minor injuries, said, "It was bad."
And all I could think was that maybe we had gotten off easy so far as no major injuries or deaths being reported. Then I saw the reports out of Upshur and Lewis counties. While we were all so focused on the disaster unfolding here, my colleagues at The Inter-Mountain in Elkins were covering a story that was no less horrifying because of its familiarity.
Those severe storms dumped enough water in the mountains to cause nasty flooding.
The kind that washes away roads, knocks out bridges, destroys homes and vehicles and necessitates what on Wednesday we believed were only rescue missions. By Thursday we learned there was a recovery mission, too, as the bodies of two people who had been reported missing were found.
In one shelter alone there were 57 displaced residents, and a volunteer there said EMS and police continued to bring people throughout the night.
I don't know what it takes to be the kind of person who can work on those rescue and recovery crews for days on end, but I know I don't have it.
The National Weather Service has a list of "significant" flash flooding events in West Virginia over the years: August 1943 in central West Virginia -- 23 dead; January 1957 in southern West Virginia -- 12 people dead; April 1977 in southern West Virginia -- 22 people dead; November 1985 in nearly every part of the state south of the Mason Dixon line -- 47 people dead; January 1996, when the Blizzard of '96 was followed by a bizarre warm spell that caused record-breaking snowmelt. The NWS does not list any fatalities for that one. In between there have been so many more localized events -- our state has experienced a few just since the 2016 flood that killed 23 people and exposed the Federal Emergency Management Agency's woeful inability to serve struggling residents in their recovery efforts.
But why?
Why do so many of us hear news of flash flooding devastation in our state and react not only with "Oh, no," but "Not again?"
"Because of the steepness and the rugged topography, we have very rapid runoff of rainfall. When it does rain, it gets to the streams very quickly, the streams are steep, they're narrow," Steve Kite, then a professor in the WVU Geology and Geography Department, told a news outlet in 2016. "There is a lot of development along the stream beds, so water flows downstream very quickly."
All right, if we know why, isn't there something we can do about it?
(And those of you thinking "move out of the flood zones" must understand two things: You may be privileged enough not to understand that is easier said than done; and "home" means something different to many of the families who have built a life for themselves on the same land or in the same communities for generations in some of these flood-prone areas.)
Still, at about this time last year, Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced a partnership with the federal government that was going to perform two flood mitigation studies in Wyoming County and the Kanawha River Basin watershed.
"We know all too well the dangers that floods pose to West Virginia," Morrisey said in June 2025. "These disasters have disrupted lives, damaged infrastructure, and devastated entire communities. With these new initiatives, we are investing in data-driven, long-term solutions that will help us better protect our people and prepare our state for challenges ahead."
I know these studies take time. And I suppose it is possible the results will be "Nope. Nothing we can do." But it would be nice to at least have a few ideas to toss around soon.
According to FEMA, flooding is the number one natural disaster to strike West Virginia. (Wind incidents such as derechoes and tornadoes are a factor now, too, it seems.) It's going to happen again. I hate to think it, but it will be deadly again, too.
I hope the academics, bureaucrats and politicians looking at ways to prevent or mitigate flash flooding know that, and are adopting a sense of urgency. West Virginia deserves that, at least.
Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com.