More than six months after the record-breaking floods that swept through eastern Kanawha County, scores of homes still sit empty along Clendenin's streets.
Some are being slowly renovated or rebuilt, while others that couldn't be salvaged await demolition. Many are spray painted with the words "KEEP OUT" or with numbers to distinguish those scheduled to be razed.
While the slow road to recovery progresses in Clendenin and other communities along the Elk River, some are worried about the dozens of flood victims who are still struggling.
The Greater Kanawha Long Term Recovery Committee and the Kanawha County Commission are holding a meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Mountain Mission Church activities building, 1620 Seventh Ave. in Charleston.
"We're at a really crucial point - we've got to step up with volunteers," said Mike Shinn, executive director of the recovery committee. "We've got to pull people together on Tuesday night to say this is urgent."
Since last month, when most people are occupied with school vacations, holiday shopping and family gatherings, volunteers in the Clendenin area dropped off dramatically, Shinn said. Some weeks, they've received as few as 10 or 12 volunteers. Previously, the committee was seeing volunteers by the hundreds.
"We're sitting on a list of over 100 applications by people who say they still need help," he said. "I know there's more than that."
Everyone in the surrounding area, especially church and community leaders, are invited to Tuesday's meeting to learn more about what the needs are for flood victims at this stage in recovery.
While flood victims received an outpour of assistance and donations from the local community directly after the flood, Shinn said, overall, about 80 percent of all volunteers have traveled from other states.
But the needs have changed greatly since last summer, and many residents who decided to stay in the affected areas just want to move back into their homes and return to some sense of normalcy.
"A lot of homes are to the point where the Sheetrock is up and the floor is down," Shinn said. Skilled workers are sorely needed, especially those who can put down vinyl flooring, hang cabinets and doors, install sinks, and do plumbing and electrical work.
Shinn said the recovery committee has the resources to purchase many of the needed materials, but labor costs are another story.
"We can have meetings all we want and say we'll pay for this and buy materials, but without people to install things, we're just kind of dead in the water," he said.
Janet Rollyson had no other choice but to demolish her home of 37 years after the floods - but she's one of the lucky ones.
Several faith-based groups have helped build her new house, including a Mennonite church from Hartville, Ohio.
She'll be among the first able to move into her new home - now elevated several feet.
Rollyson, who works at the clinic at Clendenin Middle School on Koontz Avenue, has been living in a camper a Clay County family loaned her, free of charge. It sits in her front yard, which is currently strewn with building materials. She has to balance on wood planks to get to her new front steps without stepping in mud, but that doesn't faze her.
"When you lose everything, this is nothing," she said. "There's people really hurting still."
Rollyson has also stayed busy helping her neighbors in the flood's aftermath, most of whom are seniors.
"If we couldn't do anything here at my house, then we would go off getting everybody else cleaned out," she said. "You were too busy to do anything but work from daylight until dark."
But what they need now is skilled labor.
"People think it's over. We still need help - whatever you can do," Rollyson said.
Rosie Workman is another Clendenin resident working daily to fix her home. She currently stays in her son's camper outside.
The water mark is still visible on Workman's front door from the flood levels. She and her family members spent the night of June 23 in their attic. It wasn't until the next afternoon that a boat of rescue workers floated to their front porch to rescue her 91-year-old relative.
Like many in eastern Kanawha County, Workman has to drive to Charleston for most groceries, as the Crossings Mall shopping center nearby in Elkview remains closed.
Workman has gotten volunteer help from the Clendenin United Methodist Church and the St. Albans First Baptist Church. She said some home-improvement stores in the area have offered flood victims discounts on tools, appliances and other materials.
"If it wasn't for the church organizations, I don't know what we'd have done," Workman said.
But she knows others in her community haven't been as fortunate.
"Some of my friends aren't nearly where I'm at, and aren't getting the help I'm getting," she said. "It makes me feel bad."
Shinn is no stranger to disaster relief - he volunteered in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy.
During Tuesday's meeting, he'll also have some reports to offer those in attendance, such as data on how much in donation money has been spent and where it's been allocated.
"We want people to know this will be a very informative meeting that's worth their time, to [learn] how they can be involved and make a difference to help complete this recovery effort."
Part of what makes recovery in eastern Kanawha County so challenging, he said, is that many victims are too old to make repairs on their own.
"The average age of [people] I see every week in Clendenin is 62 and above," Shinn said. "They're a generation that's really paid their dues and worked hard their whole life ... a lot of these people are at a desperate moment, [and] we have to do all we can to step up higher than we ever have."
With many living in campers and similar living arrangements, like Rollyson and Workman, the recovery committee is trying to help however possible until folks are back in their homes.
One company from out of state, Shinn said, is donating $5 million worth of heating and cooling systems.
Despite concerns over fire hazards, the recovery committee has passed out hundreds of space heaters.
"I just wish people could walk a day up here and listen to the stories, especially these senior adults who [feel] like it's hopeless," he said.
Reach Elaina Sauber at
elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com,
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