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West Virginia Libraries Hit Hard by FloodsFloodwaters surged though the southernmost counties of West Virginia July 8 in one of the worst disasters to hit the Mountain State in decades, smashing homes and businesses and leaving thousands of people homeless. The July 12 New York Times reported that a six-foot wall of water swept through the small mining community of Kimball, destroying all the buildings, including the local branch of the McDowell Public Library. “The town is essentially not there any more,” West Virginia Library Commission Deputy Director J. D. Waggoner told American Libraries. McDowell’s Northfork branch building is leaning. “When we spoke to the librarian there, she was extremely upset,” Waggoner said. “She is only a part-time worker and because there has been so much damage, she’s pretty much on her own.” Some library-development staff from the commission went there July 13 to help her do some salvage work. Also hard hit was the War (W. Va.) Public Library, which was filled with five to six inches of water and may lose most of its furniture. Much of the library had just been salvaged and restocked after a devastating fire set by arsonists in March 2000. “Now they are waiting for the locusts and the toads,” Waggoner said. Three branches of the Wyoming County Public Library System also reported damage, especially the Oceana branch, which took in five to six feet of water in the basement, destroying the children’s room, the distance learning center, and a small kitchenette. As of July 13, many of the roads in the affected area remained closed, and damage assessments are ongoing. Posted July 16, 2001. |
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