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Voices from the West Virginia Floods
< < Back toFreelance photojournalist Rebecca Sell traveled down to West Virginia and captured the sights and sounds of people starting the process of clean up and recovery after flash floods swept through portions of the state.
In the third part of our series (above) we meet Bill Ore, who has owned Clendenin Pharmacy for more than 40 years, as well as other buildings and businesses in Clendenin, WV. The pharmacy will be opening a mobile pharmacy to be able to provide people with medications, as the next closest one according to Ore is in Charleston.
In the second video vignette in the series (below) we see Wes Lane, Anthony Short, and his sister Heather Short work to move a refrigerator up from a downstairs apartment of their grandparent’s home. Heather Short also lost her home down the street in the flooding that hit Clendenin.
We also meet Amanda Lawson as volunteers, mainly boxers and parents, to clean out her and her husband’s gym, Elk River Boxing. The couple had just moved into the location in May, and were renovating an apartment upstairs to live in when the flood hit. They were trapped on the second floor for more than 12 hours. They have set up a GoFundMe page to help rebuild.
In the first video of the series (below) you’ll see Andy Arthur and his son Zach, 17 from Sissonville, WV cleaning out their truck of drywall, insulation, and furniture from their family camp at a dump site in Clay County. The property has been in their family since 1948.
You’ll also hear from Adrian Bay Wright, one of the owners of Charleston restaurant Dem 2 Brothers and a Grill, who brought their supplies to cook dinner for the residents of Clendenin, WV.
Rebecca Sell is multimedia producer, editor, and photojournalist. She also is an assistant professor in the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University. For more of her work visit her website.