East of Tunnelton is Terra Alta, one of the highest towns in Preston County. In September, heavy rains put three inches of water inside Terra Alta’s town hall and flooded a handful of basements in town, according to James Tasker, the mayor.
“It comes through the wall,” Mr. Tasker said. “It’s our drainage system, which we can’t afford to update.”
Half an hour south, Eric Bautista, the mayor of Rowlesburg, is trying to find money to rebuild the town’s outdated storm water system, which releases raw sewage into the Cheat River during downpours. “It’s a lousy system that is extra lousy when there’s any rain,” Mr. Bautista said.
The consequences reach beyond the county, according to Amanda Pitzer, executive director of Friends of the Cheat, an environmental nonprofit.
“This water goes to Pittsburgh,” Ms. Pitzer said, standing at the Cheat’s edge recently. “You have to think downstream.”
‘That’s the risk we’re willing to take’
After West Virginia was hit by particularly severe flooding in June 2016, it created a state resiliency office to help protect against future flooding.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/17/climate/manchin-west-virginia-flooding.html
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