Heavy rainfall led to flooding and caused rock and mud slides throughout Kanawha and surrounding areas Friday. A record 1.97 inches of rain fell in the area, as of 5:16 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Emergency workers responded to 31 water rescues between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., according to a release from Kanawha County Metro 911.
The county received more than 650 phone calls and dispatched nearly 270 of those calls, according to the release. There were 98 reports of high water, according to the county.
Responders rescued 12 people from multiple homes on Lotus Drive, in Sissonville, according to the release.
"The entire county . . .," a dispatcher said at about 3 p.m. "It got us all, from St. Albans up to Sissonville. We kind of got hit hard."
Officials asked residents who had significant property damage from flooding to call the Kanawha County Planning Department at 304-357-0570 on Monday.
A mudslide blocked three lanes of traffic on Interstate 77 at mile marker 108, the dispatcher said. Also, a rockslide and vehicle fire blocked traffic in both directions at Interstate 79 at Amma for a time, according to the West Virginia Department of Transportation. Both sides had reopened by 5 p.m.
As of 4:10 p.m. Friday, the DOT said several roads in Roane, Kanawha, Mason, Lincoln, Calhoun, Jackson, Lewis, Pocahontas, McDowell and Wetzel counties were closed because of high water or mud or rock slides.
At 11:45 a.m. Christmas morning, the National Weather Service warned residents that an inch of rain already had fallen in some places.
"Some streams are likely to come out of their banks," the weather service wrote on its website. "Additional rainfall amounts of an inch possible in the warned area. Rainfall rates of a half an inch an hour [would] diminish [Friday] afternoon. But problems along streams may linger even as the rain diminishes."
High water also blocked Putnam roadways "all over the county," a dispatcher said around 1:15 p.m. No water rescues had been reported there at that time, the dispatcher said. "People are still driving through the water, though," he said.
High water washed out a culvert pipe and the rest of the roadway with it at Sams Fork Road, in Hurricane, another dispatcher said.
The National Weather Service had issued a flood warning for Kanawha and seven other counties in southwestern West Virginia on Friday morning.
Up to three-quarters of an inch of rain was expected to accumulate within an hour in some places, as strong showers moved through the area late Christmas morning and early afternoon.
The flood warning applied to northern Lincoln County, southeastern Jackson County, southern Mason County and all of Kanawha, Wayne, Putnam, Cabell and Roane counties.
Portions of Virginia and southeast West Virginia, including Greenbrier, Mercer, Monroe and Summers counties, were under a flash-flood watch until midnight Friday.
In a statement issued Friday, Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper thanked first responders for their work.
"We are always grateful for the first responders that work to assist during emergency calls in our area, but especially today, on Christmas, when many are away from their families, we are thankful that our first responders are taking care of calls and are helping our loved ones," Carper said. "We ask that the citizens take this into consideration and allow for more time when traveling today, as the heavy rain has caused high water throughout the county.
"Many water rescue calls have occurred - do not drive through high water."