At least 4 fatalities in West Virginia flooding

Mark Burgess told NBC News on Friday morning there was about four feet of water, “but it has stopped going up now”.

West Virginia governor Earl Ray Tomblin said at least 14 people have died, including an 8-year-old boy and a 4-year-old boy who were swept away in different counties.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency in Alleghany County and Covington on Thursday in response to severe weather and flooding.

The governor says he had planned to fly around the hart-hit areas, but wasn’t able to because all state aircraft used for rescues.

Tomblin made the announcement Friday during a news conference. He says the Jackson River and creeks in the area have crested and damage assessment teams are headed out Friday morning. About 50 people had been rescued so far.

Authorities say the bodies of two people have been recovered in the flooding in West Virginia, and they predict the death toll will rise. Greenbrier County Sheriff Jan Cahill described “complete chaos” in his county, which was one of the hardest hit. The people were trapped when the culvert bridge washed out Thursday, Kanawha County Sheriff’s Sgt. B.D. Humphreys said. “Multiple sections of highway just missing”.

He says it’s really hard to navigate around because there’s a ton of debris, and even rescuers have had to be rescued.

Bob Bibbee with the Ravenswood Fire Department said the boy was outside with his grandfather, who jumped in after the boy but the water was rushing too quickly. Blackshire opted for a hotel room. Then the bridge to the mall washed out during heavy rainfall, stranding people there overnight.

The boy’s mother attempted to save him but lost her grip on the child, according to Harry Croft, pastor at Marwin Church of the Nazarene at Wheeling.

“I believe in miracles”, she said.

Croft said he informed the boy’s mother that her son’s body had been found.

West Virginians needing assistance should contact their local offices of emergency management. Dozens of people had to be rescued when up to 9 inches of rain fell on parts of the state.

Three emergency workers were injured during a water rescue in Alleghany County, officials said.

Emergency crews were working to rescue the hundreds of shoppers and employees trapped at Elkview Crossings Mall after the overpass bridge collapsed Thursday night, according to WSAZ.

Storms rolled into West Virginia early Thursday and are continuing throughout the day.

One worker fell in the water during a rescue and two others were hurt while rescuing their colleague, Botetourt County Battalion Chief Andrew Moore said Friday.

Forty-four counties, primarily in the southeastern part of the state, were under a state of emergency Thursday night because of flood waters, emergency officials said.

Officials did not immediately identify the victims, although local reports said one of those killed in Ohio County was an 8-year-old who had slipped into a creek and was carried away.

As a deluge swamped southeast West Virginia – a disaster that killed at least 18 people – Ronnie Scott’s wife called him and told him their house was filling up with water.

Stadelman said Friday morning that some areas were “devastated”.

An area near the West Virginia-Virginia border received at least 9 inches of rain while other parts of the state had 3 to 5 inches, National Weather Service hydrologist John Sikora said.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has expanded the area included in a state of emergency declaration to 44 counties, giving those areas access to state resources for response efforts to flooding. Tens of thousands of people were without power, and several roads were impassable, the Associated Press reported.