Huntington is no stranger to flooding, but the flooding in the first week of May surprised and overwhelmed the neighborhoods most affected and the businesses tasked with repairing the damage.
Local businesses such as Servpro and Classic Construction found themselves receiving a flood of phone calls from homeowners needing water removal and damage repair.
That led to a minimum few days wait for most homeowners to have any work started.
Marcus Clinton, marketing manager for Servpro, has been working on job sites, something he doesn’t normally do as a part of his job.
“We have been beyond busy,” Clinton said.
So busy that Servpro called in help from other locations and Classic Construction hired temporary help.
“We are so busy that on Friday and Saturday (of the week of the flooding) we were able to call Servpros from out of town,” Clinton said.
Clinton described feeling shocked as he saw the basements of homes in the Enslow Park neighborhood with six or seven feet of water.
“It was shocking how it just continued to get worse,” Clinton said.
Both Clinton and Julie Davis, director of sales and marketing at Classic Construction, mentioned how many of the homeowners affected don’t have flood insurance. Davis said Classic Construction was giving out advice to homeowners as to what they can do to start the repair process on their own to lower cost.
Other groups such as the West Virginia Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, or VOAD, have frequently visited the neighborhoods affected by the flooding and passed out flood kits and helped with clean-up efforts.
Jenny Gannaway, VOAD executive director, explained that her organization provides long-term case management. VOAD can also help by donating money needed for repairs to homeowners the organization has received as donations or grants.
Last week, elected state officials and flood experts met in Charleston to update the state’s flood protection plan created in 2004. The flooding has been particularly frustrating to much of the Enslow Park neighborhood as it has been a frequent victim of flooding. It experienced another major flooding incident in 2016.