Marlinton May Avoid Flooding This Time Around

Marlinton, WV – Marlinton residents feared they would wake up to flood waters Saturday morning. But according to Pocahontas County Emergency Services Director Melvin Martin, the county did not get enough rain overnight to cause flooding. He spoke with Meteorologist John Sikoro from the Charleston bureau of the National Weather Service early Saturday morning.

Martin: “He says we’re not out of the woods yet,but we’re kinda thinking we dodged the bullet again – most of it stayed south of us.”

Sikoro says other areas of the state were hit harder, like Beckley where 2 to 3 inches of rain fell. Martin says it appears that the rain bands hit the ridges in Pocahontas and broke up reducing the amount of rainfall in the area. He says that’s a common pattern for storms in our area.

“We’re still going to watch it cautiously today, the rain’s not going to be out of here until tonight anyway, late tonight. What I can see on the radar, there’s not a whole lot of it left right now” says Martin.

The National Weather Service in Charleston is forecasting the river gauge at Buckeye to crest at 15.5 feet late Saturday night, but Sikoro says that depends on how much rain falls before then. As of late morning Saturday, some areas of the county were showing signs of partial clearing. He says the river could reach flood stage at Marlinton (around 10 feet), but like Martin, doesn’t believe that likely unless the rain gets much heavier in the day.

Martin says they will continue to monitor the river through the rest of Saturday and into Sunday morning.