The Montgomery Herald, Montgomery, W.Va.

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  • Pratt was slammed over the weekend as Paint Creek left its banks and poured through homes. Torrential rains Friday night into Saturday caused flooding in the area and led to one confirmed death in Raleigh County and the suspected death of a Glasgow fireman (see related story in this edition) as he was swept away while helping rescue those trapped by floodwaters in Raleigh County. Bill Arnold

    pratt flooding

  • Many Pratt homes were inundated with floodwater over the weekend. Bill Arnold

    pratt trailers
March 17, 2010

Waters engulf communities

From Staff Reports The Montgomery Herald

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Torrential rainstorms combined with snowmelt from the mountains to create roaring floodwaters which left destruction in their path over the weekend. Beaver in Raleigh County was perhaps the hardest hit area around Southern West Virginia. However, areas of eastern Kanawha County, including Pratt and Hansford, along with the Fayette County communities of Kilsyth, Pax, Mount Hope, Glen Jean, Red Star, and more, suffered major damage. Floodwaters submerged communities and a woman was reported dead in Bradley. Authorities also launched a rescue mission to find the Kanawha County firefighter reported missing while trying to evacuate residents in Beaver (see related story). The confirmed fatality occurred early Saturday when the woman parked her car in the North Sandbranch Road area and tried to reach her residence on foot, said Marty Agee, deputy director of the Raleigh County Emergency Operations Center. Her body was later recovered. Firefighters, National Park Service rangers and National Guard personnel in a Black Hawk helicopter searched the area for the lost firefighter from Saturday through press time yesterday. Raleigh and Fayette counties received about 2 to 3 inches of rain overnight Friday, said Ken Batty, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Charleston. Beckley’s rainfall between 7 a.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday was 3.07 inches, and Oak Hill’s for the same period was 2.95. Most of that fell overnight Friday. The Kanawha River crested late Saturday night at 28.8 feet in Charleston. The river was measured at 24.1 feet at the South Side Bridge Monday morning.

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