West Virginia mudslide forces dozens to evacuate
MINGO COUNTY, W. Va -- A mudslide in southern West Virginia has forced dozens to evacuate from their homes, emergency officials said.
Kenneth Smith, Vice Chairman of the West Virginia Southern Disaster Center, told CBS News the slide took place around 10:30 p.m. Thursday in the Mingo County.
At least three homes on Big Splint Hollow Road were damaged, but only one of them was occupied. The people who lived there were not home at the time and no injuries were reported, Smith said.
About 70 people were evacuated as a precaution and taken to a Red Cross shelter set up at the National Guard Armory at South West Virginia Community College, according to CBS affiliate WOWK-TV. There was no word on when the residents would be allowed to return home.
The area received approximately four inches of snow and more than an inch of rain before the slide, which measured about 300 feet wide and 500 feet long. Snow flurries were falling at the time, Smith said.
At least seven mudslides have been reported over the last few days in Mingo County, forcing road closures and damaging homes, WOWK reported. Thousands of people