Brooke County Included in Counties Under State of Emergency Due to Severe Weather

Brooke County has been included on a list of 26 counties that are under a state of emergency due to two weeks of flooding.
Gov. Jim Justice added Wirt as well as Boone, Braxton, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Jackson, Logan, Mingo, Ritchie, Roane, Tyler and Wayne counties after severe thunderstorms caused tornadoes, flooding, downed trees, power outages and road blockages. 
On April 2,  the governor originally issued a state of emergency for Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln and Nicholas counties.
On April 4, he added Barbour, Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio, Wetzel and Wood counties to the original declaration. On April 8, Pleasants County was added. 
The state of emergency declaration is a proactive measure to ensure the allocation of necessary resources and expediting emergency response efforts.
It allows state and local agencies to take swift and decisive actions to mitigate the impact of dangers in an effort to protect the lives and property of West Virginians.
Last week, Justice issued a state of preparedness for all 55 counties, which is still in effect. 
Division of Highways’ road crews worked overnight and continue to work 24 hours a day to assess and clean up damage caused by a massive storm that moved through the state on Thursday, April 11.
Most of the state had been under a tornado watch until 9 p.m. Thursday.
Tornados did not materialize, but high winds and a largely stationary storm front dumped record amounts of rainfall on the Kanawha Valley and other parts of West Virginia, leading to mud and rockslides, downed trees and flash flooding.
Some parts of the state received 5 inches of rainfall in the space of several hours.