1 Person Killed by Weekend Flooding in West Virginia, Kentucky

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Heavy rains that pounded parts of West Virginia and Kentucky last weekend left one person dead and two people missing, authorities said Monday.

In West Virginia, Ohio County Emergency Management Agency Director Lou Vargo said a van on Sunday rolled into a stream that flows into Wheeling Creek with two people inside. He said Michael Grow, 24, was recovered from the floodwater and taken to Wheeling Hospital, where he died.

Vargo told reporters that crews searched Monday afternoon for 19-year-old Page Gellner, who had been in the van. According to media reports, floodwaters washed out sections of the roadway after about 2 inches of rain fell in a short time span in northern West Virginia.

In northeastern Kentucky, crews were searched Monday afternoon for 82-year-old Delmar Nickoson, whose mobile home was swept away in floodwaters. Bracken County Judge-Executive Earl Bush said neighbors reported Sunday morning that a mobile home near Bracken Creek was gone.

Bush said road and property damage had been reported throughout the county. That included the Augusta boat dock and the 20 vessels stored there, according to City Council Member Jackie Hopkins.

In nearby Mason County, resident Sheila Wheeler says she stepped into rushing water when she got out of bed about 1:30 a.m. Sunday and heard a loud noise as her house began moving. She and her husband stayed put while their home was carried about 200 yards, but then emerged safely and went to check on neighbors. They spent Sunday trying to salvage what they could.

“We have no flood insurance, but thank God, we are OK,” Wheeler said

No deaths or injuries were reported in Maysville, even though Mayor David Cartmell says overflowing creeks took out several bridges and sent cars floating down roads and waterways.

“It’s devastation,” Cartmell said. “It’s an epic flood for us, we’ve never had anything like this.”