CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – A Charleston woman named Barbara Stutler has lived in her three-story home at the top of a large hill since 1976. She and her husband moved there, raised their children there and have a long track record of beautiful memories.
However, Thursday night’s excessive rain and flash flooding caught Barbara off guard. Her home had never been flooded in all the years she lived there until Thursday, and she said she and her husband never bought flood insurance because of the home’s high location.
“I was quietly just working on my taxes. I was going to go out to get something to eat. I asked Rosco, I said ‘Let’s go outside,’” Barbara said.
Barbara said she had no idea how powerful the rain was until she and her dog, Rosco, saw the damage.
“We came down the steps, and that’s when we stepped in all the water. There was two to three inches of water all down in here all flooded. So, yeah. I had no idea.”
When asked what was running through her mind when she saw inches of water in her living room, Barbara shook her head.
“I didn’t know what to grab first or what to do first. I just went ahead and stepped in the water not even thinking that everything’s plugged in down here. I just texted my daughter and told her ‘well, I was wrong, it’s flooded.’ So, she said ‘well unplug everything.’ We just started getting things out of the way,” Barbara said.
Now, Barbara is grappling with the aftermath of flash flooding: cleaning up excess water and debris using shop vacs and fans.
However, she said seeing her home in the disarray of this level is emotionally difficult.
“It makes you think twice whether you want to stay or not. I don’t know. I’m just here by myself and the dog, so it makes it hard. It makes it hard,” Barbara said. “You have to call family and ask for help, and that makes it hard. So, I might think twice about staying on the hill or not.”
Everything underneath her stairs was ruined, and now, she is focusing on salvaging what she can, like gifts and belongings from her when her mother and husband passed away.
Barbara is not alone. Several residents in the Tri-State area are facing the same emotionally taxing challenge of cleaning up their memory-filled homes after unexpected flooding.
