City of Charleston and West Virginia Division of Highways workers on Monday said completing flood cleanup and road repairs will take at least a week.
Heavy rain over the Christmas weekend dumped about 2 inches of rain and caused severe flooding in Kanawha County, but damage wasn't nearly as extensive as it has been in years past, one road worker said.
"It's not as bad as you think," said Rodney Fisher, a DOH foreman.
Fisher and about 20 other DOH workers made road repairs Monday along Sissonville Drive, where they replaced six truckloads of gravel and larger rock along bridges that high water washed away.
"I've seen a lot worse," said Fisher, who has worked for the DOH for 19 years.
He said floods in the early 2000s were much worse and that the Christmas flooding was bad because it was unexpected.
On Christmas, heavy rainfall caused rock- and mudslides, and high water led to street closures throughout Kanawha and surrounding counties. On Monday, most roads had been cleaned, but workers said there still were areas that needed to be cleared.
"We're doing mostly spot checks around the area and fixing major messes," said Bill Swindler, a truck operator for the DOH.
Swindler and Fisher's crew have 485 miles of state roads to inspect, although not all will need to be cleared.
How long that work will take remains to be seen, but Fisher said he expects cleanup will remain a priority through the end of the week.
Charleston city workers also were out Monday cleaning streets along Sissonville Drive, near Two Mile Creek, where the most flood damage occurred.
"The area that we saw the most rescues and the most damage, so far, was on Kanawha Two Mile Creek, in Sissonville," said Kanawha County Fire Coordinator C.W. Sigman in an interview on Saturday.
As of Monday afternoon, that area still needed work.
"It was hit pretty good," said Tom Caldwell, a Charleston street department foreman.
On Monday, yards along Two Mile Creek were still soggy, strewn with debris and large pieces of trash.
Caldwell said cleanup likely will take another week.
"There's only so many things you can get to," he said, adding that city workers already cleared most roads over the weekend, "but there's still a lot of cleanup to do."
More rain was expected Monday night. The National Weather Service issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook advisory for much of West Virginia.
Kevin McGrath, a Weather Service meteorologist, said cold fronts moving into the area Monday would bring another quarter- to half-inch of rain, as well as heavy wind.
"We're not expecting any more water issues," he said, although he warned that some creeks could experience flooding again.
A second wave of rain expected Wednesday also isn't likely to cause additional flooding, McGrath said.
"Wednesday showers won't be heavy," he said.
Kanawha County Metro 911 issued an advisory Monday afternoon warning residents that localized flooding could occur with Monday evening's storms because of the already saturated ground. People should be prepared, in case of power outages from high wind and downed trees, the advisory stated.
County workers also continued assessing flood damage Monday, Kanawha Commission President Kent Carper said in a news release.
County officials were urging residents whose property received significant damage during the flooding to make a report to the county planning department by calling 304-357-0570. The planning office will use those reports to create a log, which will be used to determine if damage meets the threshold for a disaster declaration from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Reach Samuel Speciale at sam.speciale@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-7939 or follow @samueljspeciale on Twitter.