Flooding Emergency Declared In Northern West Virginia

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Gov. Jim Justice has declared a state of emergency for parts of northern West Virginia with flooding from heavy rains.

Counties included in the Saturday morning declaration are Ohio, Marshall, Wetzel, Marion, Monongalia and Harrison.

According to the governor's office, state and county emergency officials are evacuating some areas and the West Virginia National Guard has been mobilized to help.

The National Weather Service reports that between 2 and 3.5 inches of rain has fallen over a flood warning area, including Morgantown, with many roads closed Saturday morning.

The service says rain is letting up but streams will flow over their banks through early afternoon.

West Virginia authorities recovered the body of a 19-year-old woman who was swept away by flash flooding earlier in the week.

Officials say Page Geller's body was found in the Ohio River on Saturday. Geller and 24-year-old Michael Grow were in a van on Sunday that rolled into a stream following heavy rains. Grow was pulled from the floodwaters and later died at a hospital. Ohio County Emergency Management Director Lou Vargo said authorities did not find Geller until early Saturday morning when heavy rains again caused flooding in the northern parts of the state.

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.