Cleanup process begins after flooding in Alleghany County

ALLEGHANY COUNTY (WSLS 10) - It's a day of cleanup for people in Covington and Alleghany County after major flooding overnight.

Dunlap Creek flooded out of its banks, nearly brushing the bottom of the Humpback Covered Bridge. The high water flooded out of the creek's banks, washing out Dunlap Beach Lane-- the only road to the landfill in town. Flooding in that area kept many people, like David Kimberlin, from getting to work.

"I kind of expected it this morning," says Kimberlin. "But I didn't think it'd be this high still. Hopefully it'll go down after a while. It happened quicker than the 1985 flood did, it's really bad."

Less than twenty miles away, in White Sulphur Springs, there was massive flooding at the Greenbrier Resort. Yesterday was Corey Evans' first day working at the resort. He says the flooding there was so bad, many people were forced to spend the night.

"Leaving this morning, it was a wreck. I had tears in my eyes," says Evans. "It's so sad. We were lucky to get out. There was still water covering the main gate, but we got out the secondary gate."

On his drive back to Covington, Evans says he counted 52 cars that had been abandoned and flooded along the highway.

Jeffrey Morris examines damage to his home from a canoe.

Similar flooding led to severe damage to cars and houses in the Callaghan area, where Jeffrey Morris had to use a canoe to get a better look at the damage to his home. He says he's lived in the same house for 20 years and has never seen anything like it.

"When i pulled my truck in here, it was 3 o'clock," he says. "By 4 o'clock it was underwater. I loaded what I could in it, but then it wouldn't start after it got wet. So here I am."

Cleanup is expected to take several days and even weeks as people in the region work to get their lives back to normal.


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