Pocahontas Avoids Flooding As Rain Dissapates Over County Ridges

Marlinton, WV – Pocahontas residents, particularly those in Marlinton, are thankful that the heavy rains that brought death and destruction to other parts of WV, spared the county this weekend.

Late last week, the National Weather Service in Charleston predicted that the county could see flooding similar to that experienced in late January of this year, when several feet of water flooded areas of Marlinton, Seibert and other low lying areas. With that in mind, several businesses and other organizations in Marlinton took advantage of sand bags and sand made available by the Marlinton Fire Dept. Filled sandbags could be seen at the front doors of the PC Board of Education offices, Parks and Recreation and a few businesses on Main Street.

Thankfully, those flooding predictions were not fulfilled. Speaking with PC Emergency Services Director Melvin Martin Saturday morning, he offered a possible explanation for the lack of heavier rains in the county.

“Same thing I was seeing on the radar, it just kind of gets up to us, just dissipated out” said Martin.

As has happened with past storms, the storm hits the counties high ridges, breaks up and loses a lot of its power. The fact that a major portion of the mountain snowpack had already melted in the previous days also meant less water to feed into the Greenbrier River.

The actual crest of the Greenbrier as measured by the river gauge at Buckeye, came just before midnight Saturday night at 9.97 feet, well below the flood stage of 15 feet. That meant that the river was also well below flood stage in Marlinton. After cresting, the river began a steady drop. As of late Monday morning, the river had dropped to a little over 6 feet at Buckeye.

As one Buckeye resident noted of the preparations for possible flooding, better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. This time, Pocahontas got the best.