Photo Provided Janie Stewart, Trina Fetty and Mayor Chipper Goff.

The Town of Hundred has faced many challenges since it was flooded just over a year ago, July 28-29. In fact, according to Mayor Chip Goff, the townspeople should write a book on how they feel and think about the whole ordeal. Goff said the flood, although a bad thing, has also yielded much good. Businesses have gotten a brand new start, and homes have been completely redone. This has brought pride to the community, as its members have also become closer.

“People who haven’t spoken to one another for years because of grudges were standing side by side, handing out supplies and speaking to eachother,” noted Goff of the flood’s effects.

Goff said the area is around 99 percent recovered, as far as everyone being relocated. He noted some homes are still under construction, but if a stranger was to drive through the town – not knowing about the flood – one wouldn’t know the damage that happened just one year ago. Goff said there are a couple of debris piles outside of town limits, the only evidence of the flood.

Meanwhile, the town’s fire department has reopened, and the trucks have been replaced. The town’s senior center has also reopened.

Janie Stewart, coordinator for the town’s Volunteer Resource Center, said she had 268 families that came through the center’s office needing help in the first three months after the flood. Stewart said families needed help cleaning out their homes, mucking out the mud, carrying out furniture, and beginning the rebuild process. She said there were several families that didn’t want to ask for help, but when it came time for the unmet needs, more families came forward needing items such as appliances. Overall, there were well over 300 families that needed help.

Stewart said there were four different funds for donated money, and though she didn’t have an exact total on how much was donated, the total was well over $150,000 that came into the area. These funds were used for materials and to replace appliances. Stewart said, this summer, the town’s residents replaced lawn mowers, weedeaters, and rototillers. She said the funds have almost been depleted now, and the small amount left will be used toward dumpsters that will be used when buildings are deconstructed.

Though the VRC is closed, the organization is still intact and is now called the Hundred/Littleton Long-Term Disaster Recovery Group. This organization is set up to help anyone in Wetzel County.

Councilwoman Trina Fetty’s home was flooded as a result of the flood. She noted she became part of the town’s council just two months before the flood. Prior to the flood, there wasn’t much to do in a council meeting, according to Fetty. However, after the flood, that changed.

Mayor Goff said he has a great amount of respect for what the town council, long-term recovery group, and Coordinator Stewart has done, along with the many other committees and volunteers. The town has had three community services in which the local churches and residents have come together. Goff said residents were blessed with “beautiful days, great worship, and much appreciation and gratefulness on those days.” Also, Stewart coordinated an amazing Fourth of July celebration this year.

“The town of Hundred is blessed with good people,” noted Goff. He said the town came together for its own residents, along with other counties as well. When the flood first happened, Hundred High School was opened as a shelter. That first day, there was one table set up. By the second day, the tables were filled with donated supplies for flood victims. Goff said the school looked like Wal-Mart, as tractor trailers arrived with supplies. Goff credited local and community efforts, and even if volunteers didn’t know how and where to begin, they “Jumped in and did it.”

“They did it from their hearts,” Mayor Goff said.

Goff himself is a first responder, a member of the Hundred VFD. He helped and rescued his neighbors the night of the flood, and he stayed out all night – seven hours. Goff noted when he finally crossed the bridge to his house, that’s whe the severity of the situation “truly hit” him.

Goff noted no lives were lost as a result of the flood, not even the loss of pets. Goff’s brother lost his home, but he did not lose his family. His dog was in the water for hours but stayed on top of furniture. When the waters resided, the dog was safe.

Goff said many people worked long hours, everyday, for at least the following three months. Churches came together and cooked food and handed out supplies everyday. The West Virginia Department of Corrections brought prisoners who helped with clean-up. Goff said the community didn’t look at the individuals as felons, “just hard-working people.” The prisoners would bring vegetables from their prison gardens, and the community fed them.

He noted the high school is preparing to help decorate the town by decorating the telephone poles. The Hundred High School Hornets want to make signs for businesses, build awnings, and build flower plots for sidewalks. There is even discussion on a possible visitors bureau. Goff noted residents want to obtain their own grant money for the visitors bureau and said the school wants to help with this endeavor to help the students become more interested in learning, especially in construction, math, and getting hands-on experience.

“A lot of people first thought, ‘Why us?”” said Goff of the July 28-29 flood. “However, I believe everything happens for a reason.”

“A lot of special bonds have been gained through the flood,” Goff said.