RECORD FLOODS IN WV

[Borgholio]

Forensic experts in DC matched DNA to his mother and sisters. That was 2008 -- the police finally had enough evidence to arrest and convict the bastard last year.

They found DNA from a body that had been burning for hours? That's impressive. Must have found some intact bone marrow or something.

[Joun_Lord]

Joun-Lord, wherever you are right now, the storm's already hit Charleston and is moving up the Kanawha.

I'm in North Charleston and now the storm is hitting though still fairly docile, just a little rain so far and no more thunder. My mom did get a message about a flash flood warning until 5 and let me know about it.

But right now its only sprinkling lightly so either its passed me or I just haven't been hit yet.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

I'll simply note that Nallen/Russellville is considered 'redneck' even by WV standards, and is known for signs like "Protected by Smith&Wessen" and "Trespassers will be shot; Survivors shot again".

Are those really a thing? Like, I don't mean are those a thing physically. I know they are. But like do the people putting those up actually genuinely want to follow up on the threat?

Yes.

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Technically, they're supposed to issue a warning first... but some states consider the presence of signs to be sufficient warning, and if someone doesn't happen to see the "clearly posted" signs... welp. Sucks to be them.

In Oklahoma, and some parts of Georgia(North Georgia, South Georgia, much of the non-Macon parts of Middle Georgia), the cops take the shooter saying "well, I warned the sumbitch" as evidence of sufficent warning having been given.

[Broomstick]

Forensic experts in DC matched DNA to his mother and sisters. That was 2008 -- the police finally had enough evidence to arrest and convict the bastard last year.

They found DNA from a body that had been burning for hours? That's impressive. Must have found some intact bone marrow or something.

Tooth enamel can also be amazingly protective. There's a reason, after all, most extinct animals are known from tooth fossils and little else.

[LadyTevar]

Forensic experts in DC matched DNA to his mother and sisters. That was 2008 -- the police finally had enough evidence to arrest and convict the bastard last year.

They found DNA from a body that had been burning for hours? That's impressive. Must have found some intact bone marrow or something.

Tooth enamel can also be amazingly protective. There's a reason, after all, most extinct animals are known from tooth fossils and little else.

Plus, it was a backyard bonfire, not a 2500F cremation oven. He'd broken them up into fragments, to the point it took Forensics to determine animal or human

[Simon_Jester]

Back to the "Looters will be shot" discussion, there's a large section of the WV Code that defines Criminal Trespass out in detail, including this part that concerns posting of No Trespassing signs:

(4) "Posted land" is that land upon which reasonably maintained signs are placed not more than five hundred feet apart along and at each corner of the boundaries of the land...

Five hundred feet seems unreasonable, in that I can imagine a lot of types of terrain where it would be easy to blunder right between two of the signs without ever knowing they were there.

[Batman]

That's presumably what the 'The signs shall be placed along the boundary line of posted land in a manner and in a position as to be clearly noticeable from outside of the boundary line' is for.

[LadyTevar]

Well... Clorox Bleach was contacted by my niece (among others) and they're sending gallons of bleach to WV. Budweiser is sending cans of water, as they do in any emergency situation. Tide detergent brought their portable laundry truck.

But... the cops have already arrested a couple looters, caught a few women who fraudulently to obtain supplies for "flood damage", and other good deeds.

[LadyTevar]

More in the news, from Charleston Newspapers, about various aid being given to flood victims.

Clay County emergency workers were responding to a diabetic emergency last Friday morning when they misjudged the amount of water covering Elkhurst Road, said Beverly King, director of the Clay County Ambulance Service. The driver could see flower pots along the roadside and incorrectly thought they were level with the ground. The ambulance was destroyed.

Fortunately, though, no one was injured.

“That’s the main thing,” King said. “We don’t care about the truck. It’s human life.”

On Wednesday morning, a Maryland volunteer fire department gave Clay County something the ambulance service could not have bought on its own: a replacement ambulance.

The Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad in Wheaton, Maryland, heard about Clay County’s plight and gave them the ambulance, appraised at $55,000, free of charge.

“We are so thankful,” King told Wheaton squad member Roger Marks when he dropped off the 2009 Ford ambulance at the Clendenin exit of Interstate 79 Wednesday afternoon. “You don’t know how thankful.”

The Clay County Ambulance Service operates on funds generated by making runs, King said. Clay County government rarely subsidizes it, she said. They could not have afforded to replace the ambulance, King said.

Tom Miller, West Virginia’s director to the National Volunteer Fire Council, said the ambulance donation came about after he reached out to the representatives of the national chapter of the organization. They put the word out to volunteer fire departments all over the country.

“There’s 900,000 volunteer fire fighters in the United States,” Miller said. “We affectionately — some of us — refer to it as the brotherhood of the big red truck.”

Besides Maryland, various donations and support have come from Utah, Pennsylvania, Ohio and North Carolina, he said.

The donation is just one example of the help that’s coming in from other states as West Virginia continues to reel from the flooding that has destroyed countless homes and killed more than 20 people.

Virginia residents also are helping out their neighbors in West Virginia.

WRIC-TV reports that Jessica Pittman, whose husband is a West Virginia native, is collecting money to buy baby food and other necessities for the survivors. So far, the Hanover County family has raised more than $2,000 and hope to fill two large trailers with supplies before leaving for West Virginia on Friday.

Virginia State Trooper Angie Shaffier, who grew up in West Virginia, also is helping those in need. She’s collecting blankets, bottled water, towels and other supplies to fill a large truck to take to her home state Friday. She’ll be in Rockville School Park in Hanover County until 9 p.m. every night collecting donations.

On Wednesday, volunteers from the Wisconsin-based Next Step Ministries were helping organize donations at a flood relief hub off the Clendenin exit of Interstate 79. They had also been helping with construction projects, some of the missionaries said. The volunteers came from several other states including Pennsylvania, Florida, Iowa, New York and Texas.

Myriad fundraising and donation efforts have been started in other states as well.


Country music star Brad Paisley, a West Virginia native who lives in Nashville, Tennessee, started a GoFundMe.com campaign on Wednesday with a $1 million fundraising goal. Paisley launched that campaign with a $100,000 donation.

His campaign notes that all donations will be distributed through the Brad Paisley Foundation at WesBanco Trust Department in Wheeling.

The Virginia-based Jefferson Area Motor Squad, comprised of officers from the Charlottesville, Abermarle and University of Virginia police departments, also is collecting donations at four locations for flood victims until July 7.

Members then will distribute items to communities in West Virginia. Monetary donations also can be made through the motor squad’s PayPal portal at +www.jamsquad.org.

Representatives with National Church Residences, which operates multiple senior housing facilities around the country, are collecting canned food, bottled water and household cleaning supplies at its Columbus, Ohio, office.

Spokesman Lance Cranmer announced on Facebook that he’ll deliver collected items on Friday to residents of Edgewood Village in Richwood, which is run by National Church Residences.


“Thankfully no residents were harmed during the massive floods that have all but destroyed this little town ... but they have also been cut off from all food, supplies [and] groceries for a week when the town’s only two stores went under water,” Cranmer wrote.

Many out-of-state efforts are being headed by those who moved from West Virginia and have loved ones affected by the flooding.

Lotus Patton, of Bonita Springs, Florida, had raised over $9,000 through GoFundMe.com on Wednesday for her brother and sister-in-law, whose White Sulphur Springs home was destroyed.

The money raised will be used for future housing costs as the family looks for another place to live, according to Patton’s fundraiser.

[LadyTevar]

So... the storms haven't let up, in fact we're expecting t-storms all this week, with the possibility of tornado-producing cells.
We did have a couple tornadoes touch down in places yesterday, but thanks to WV's terrain they were barely F1 and blew out quickly. The rain was worse, as folks are still keeping a sharp eye on the creeks and rivers that flooded, as well as others that didn't but could.

Various hospitals and clinics have been out in force, travelling to the hard-hit places and offering replacement medications, wound treatment, and most importantly, Tetanus Shots. Gods only knows what was in the flood waters, and there's tons of mud that was left coating everywhere the water went. Then there's the mosquito population tripling, and all the nasty shit they carry, and the mold that's started growing in the heat and humidity. At this point, I'd not be surprised if we had a cholera scare -- there's just too many people trying to save stuff from homes, or trying to find what's left after the home broke apart.
At least the WV govt. and the Feds are getting their butts in gear. FEMA is on-site and paperwork is being filed as fast as folks can fill it out. State employees are helping people navigate the paperwork, answering questions and pointing folks to the right places. Donations are continuing to pour in, and local volunteers are sorting and passing it out with surprising efficiency.

It's these local volunteers that are the most amazing. In Rainelle, a lady has been volunteering daily, helping everyone around her, while her own home had been washed away. She had to have her own bags of food and supplies forced on her, because she was so busy helping those she felt needed it more. Volunteers have turned their summer vacation and done nothing but help others around them.

But we still have a ways to go. So, if you guys haven't already, Please Donate to WV FLOOD RELIEF. Either via the Red Cross, or through the relief funds set up by Brad Paisley and Jennifer Garner (the only kickstarters I trust right now).

[Joun_Lord]

Thankfully the tornadoes didn't do really any more damage to the affected areas. Like pretty much any tornado in WV they don't get alot of steam.

A bit fun stuffing both my kitties into a single kitty carrier and running over to the neighbors house to hunker in their basement. I didn't even get an alert because my phone is so freaking ancient, I actually had to have a neighbor pound on my door with a few minutes until it hit our area. Thankfully it was mostly just some heavy rain (but not super heavy thankfully) and that was about it. I think Kentucky got a bit fucked up but Best Virginia mostly escaped unscathed.

I wish I could do more to help the flood victims. Donated 10 dollars to the Red Cross and dropped of some Chef Boyardee I had for any time my nieces and nephews stop over but unfortunately thats about all I could manage. Still every little helps I guess.