RAINELLE,Chainkeen West Virginia—The rain came hard and fast early on the morning of June 23, 2016.
By 2 p.m., water was knee-deep in Bill Bell’s appliance store on Main Street in Rainelle, a small town on the western edge of Greenbrier County, West Virginia.
Bell began elevating the washing machines and dishwashers, thinking that would be enough. But within hours, he’d lose it all. Today, his shop is up and running once again, but the memory of the flood runs deep.
“To be honest with you, everybody here sleeps on pins and needles when it calls for a big rain,” he says.
West Virginia is one of the most flood-prone states in the country. With climate change, those flood risks could worsen with a future of more intense and variable weather. Yet it’s hard for state officials charged with protecting the public to even talk about climate change, the Ohio Valley ReSource and West Virginia Public Broadcasting found as part of a regional collaboration with InsideClimate News called “Caught Off Guard: Southeast Struggles with Climate Change.”
READ MORE
This story was published as part of a collaborative project organized by InsideClimate News involving nine newsrooms across seven states. The project was led by Louisville, KY-based James Bruggers of InsideClimate News, who leads the Southeast regional hub of ICN’s Environment Reporting Network.
2025-05-02 05:592718 view
2025-05-02 05:24404 view
2025-05-02 04:562752 view
2025-05-02 04:212345 view
2025-05-02 04:091106 view
2025-05-02 03:52783 view
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Jamie Foxx required stitches after getting hit in the face with a glass
A white shark that found itself stranded on a beach in Massachusetts was helped back into the water
A Pennsylvania museum has agreed to sell a 16th century portrait that once belonged to a Jewish fami