Baby's body found in submerged car as horror floods sweep South US
The body of a baby was found in a submerged car after floodwaters swept through the state, authorities said.
The grim discovery was made on Friday in southern West Virginia following a string of thunderstorms over the area dumping 3 inches of rain.
Thunderstorms were possible Friday from the Florida Panhandle to the North Carolina coast, National Weather Service forecaster Bob Oravec said.
A woman called 911 saying her car was stuck in high water in the Fayette County town of Pax and she couldn't find the baby.
Sheriff Mike Fridley said in a statement Friday afternoon that the vehicle was found submerged with the 11-week-old boy inside.
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Flood water enters homes in West Virginia (AP)Investigators determined the woman had misjudged just how deep the water was and drove into the road until she realised it was too deep.
As she tried to get the baby out the car was swept away.
The area in which the vehicle was recovered had murky water as deep as 18 feet (5.5m).
The incident remains under investigation, the statement said.
West Virginia, where towns located along narrow river valleys dot the landscape, is no stranger to devastating floods. In June 2016, 23 people were killed in flooding statewide.
"We cannot stress enough, the importance of not driving through flood waters," Fridley said. "Water depth is very hard to judge, as well as it is hard to judge the speed of moving water."
In Mingo County, along West Virginia's border with Kentucky and Virginia, a mudslide knocked over a few train cars loaded with coal, the county emergency services office said.
In places the flooding was as deep as 5 metres (AP)The mudslide was caused by the failure of a sediment ditch berm at a coal mining operation run by Coal-Mac LLC, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesperson Terry Fletcher said in an email.
The mudslide also uprooted one home and surrounded another with mud and water.
At least one resident had to be assisted from their home but no injuries were reported and state police were investigating.
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The DEP ordered the coal operator to find temporary housing for impacted residents, stabilize and repair the area around the slide and remove mud and debris from the homes, Fletcher said. Equipment has been brought to the site to begin remediation.
Officials called off school classes Friday in 10 counties in West Virginia. In Kanawha County, the state's largest, school bus routes were changed or closed because of flooded roads.
Governor Jim Justice declared a state of emergency on Thursday as the storms rolled through.
High water from heavy rains causes flooding that closes Arlington Boulevard on Friday, February 17, 2023, in Huntington, West Virginia (AP)In Lincoln County, floodwaters forced 170 students from three different schools to stay at school overnight.
Many parents were unable to reach the school to pick up their chilren due to the high water.
Community members, stores and churches donated cots, blankets, pillows and other supplies and staff members stayed on site to supervise the students, school officials said.
Photos on Lincoln County High School's Facebook page showed students playing board games in the cafeteria at the school in Hamlin.
They passed the time watching movied, tossing a football and playing basketball.
Pizza, juice boxes and other donated foods were spread out across tables.
After breakfast and lunch were served Friday, the floodwaters over roads still had not sufficiently receded, so school officials decided to make plans to serve dinner again.
By Friday night, it was determined the water levels had fallen far enough to allow pupils to leave.
"We just put our last students on buses to go home, so we're waiting to get confirmation that we delivered all those students," Lincoln County school Superintendent Jeffrey Kelley said by telephone Friday night.
"We've got a bunch of great people who are committed to kids and doing the right thing. That makes these tough situations a lot easier."
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