The body of an infant was found in a submerged car Friday after floodwaters receded in southwest Virginia, officials said.
Flooding occurred amid thunderstorms in the south, and parts of West Virginia received about 3 inches (8 cm) of rain. National Weather Service forecaster Bob Oreweck said hurricanes were possible Friday from the Florida panhandle to the North Carolina coast.
A woman called 911 saying her car was stuck in high water in the Fayette County town of Pax and she could not find her child. Sheriff Mike Fridley said in a statement Friday afternoon that the vehicle was found submerged with the 11-week-old baby inside.
Investigators determined that the woman misjudged the depth of the water and then walked across the road until she realized it was too deep. He then tried to retrieve the child but the vehicle was washed away.
The area where the vehicle was recovered contained water as deep as 18 feet (5.5 m). Visibility was near zero as the water was muddy, hampering the search. The incident is being investigated, the statement said.
West Virginia, where towns along narrow river valleys dot the landscape, is no stranger to devastating floods. In June 2016, floods claimed 23 lives across the state.
“We cannot stress enough the importance of not driving into flood waters,” Fridley said. “It is very difficult to judge the depth of the water, as well as it is difficult to judge the speed of the water.”
In Mingo County, along West Virginia’s border with Kentucky and Virginia, mudslides occurred on some train cars laden with coal, the county emergency services officials said.
Terry Fletcher, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said in an email that the mudslide was caused by a failure of a sediment ditch at a coal mining operation run by Coal-Mac LLC.
One house was also uprooted by the mudslide and another was surrounded by mud and water and at least one resident had to be helped from their home. No injuries were reported and the state police were investigating.
The DEP ordered the coal operator to find temporary housing for affected residents, stabilize and repair the area around the slide, and remove soil and debris from the homes, Fletcher said. The equipment has been brought to the site to begin treatment.
Officials closed school classes in 10 counties in West Virginia on Friday. In Kanawha County, the largest in the state, school bus routes were diverted or closed due to flooded roads. Gov. Jim Justice declared a state of emergency on Thursday after the storm rolled in.
In Lincoln County, floodwaters forced about 170 students from three different schools to have an impromptu slumber party Thursday night.
Schools in the county, located in the southern part of the state, were dismissed two hours early on Thursday due to high water that made many roads impassable. Parents who could drive to school were allowed to pick up their children, but many students were forced to stay.
School officials said community members, stores, and churches donated cots, blankets, pillows, and other supplies, and staff members remained on site to monitor students.
Photos on Lincoln County High School’s Facebook page show students playing board games in the school’s cafeteria in Hamlin. They watched a movie and some threw a football and played basketball in the gymnasium. Pizza, juice boxes, and other donated food items were spread out on tables. A similar situation was faced by the students of two primary-middle schools in the county.
After breakfast and lunch on Friday, the floodwaters on the streets had still not receded enough, so school officials decided to plan to serve dinner again. By Friday night, it was determined that the water level had dropped enough to allow the students to leave.
“We just got our last students on the buses to go home, so we’re waiting for confirmation that we’ve delivered all those students,” Lincoln County Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Kelly said by telephone Friday night. ” “We have a great group of great people who are committed to the kids and doing the right thing. It makes these difficult situations a lot easier.
In Kansas City, Kansas, doctors at the University of Kansas issued a public alert Thursday after treating people who broke through a fall after sleet that lasted eight to 10 hours hit the entire region with thin flakes of snow Hui was suffering from a wrist injury.
The hospital said in a news release that some parents had children in their arms when they fell, causing injuries to the youth.