KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – Sunday, June 23, marked eight years since the historic and fatal flooding of 2016 that claimed the lives of 23 West Virginians.

Between eight and 10 inches of rain fell in less than a 12-hour period, pummeling communities and changing lives forever. Thousands of people from Clendenin in Kanawha County to White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County were displaced.

According to the National Weather Service , the death toll in the flooding event was the highest in the state since the West Virginia floods of November 1985, which killed 47 people.

The devastating floods caused millions of dollars in damages, and some areas are still dealing with the impact eight years later. The National Weather Service says road repair costs alone were expected to exceed $50 million.

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Breaking News

“We owned Allen’s Laundromat at that time, and we had 52 inches of water in our building on that day, and I was also stranded for, like, two days before the water went down and we could get out a back way,” said Pam Allen, small business owner. “So, it took us probably 18 months to get back open again. There’s things we still need to do to our building, of course, from the damage, but we’re coming along very well.”

The floods also destroyed Herbert Hoover High School. After spending seven years learning from portable classrooms, the school just finished its first academic year in their new building.

The Kanawha County Commission posted a statement on social media on Sunday saying, “Today, eight years later, the Elk River community continues to recover from the devastation. New schools have been built. New businesses have opened. Many great things are happening in this community. We are and forever will be ‘Elk River Strong.'”

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin also released a statement on the anniversary of the floods saying, “While I am proud to have secured over $256 million above and beyond normal federal disaster funding to rebuild and make our communities more resilient to extreme weather, no amount of funding can replace what was lost that day. In the aftermath of the flood, West Virginians showed our true colors by coming together as only we can to support one another.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOWK 13 News.