Amelia Ferrell Knisely, West Virginia Watch

MCDOWELL COUNTY, West Virginia — When the flood water swept through McDowell County, West Virginia, in February, Ashley Rutherford sat in her wheelchair, unable to get out of her home as the water started coming through the doorway. One of her sons put rubber rain boots on her to cover her legs while the water came in.

Nine weeks later, the carpet in the home is still wet. The kitchen’s wooden floor is damp and buckling, and Rutherford’s wheelchair got stuck in a new hole in front of the sink. The downstairs rooms are full of her family’s stuff, crowding the path for her to get around.

“I’m overwhelmed,” said Rutherford, 33, a mother of four. “We’re living out of totes right now. My daughter can’t find the right outfit she wants to wear to school.”

Rutherford lives in Berwind, one of the poor county’s most southern towns. In its hollers, residents — many of whom are elderly — are waiting for help. They need federal aid. A stove. Volunteers to help them clear the thick mud from their basements.

There hasn’t been nearly enough help, and people feel forgotten by disaster relief agencies, nonprofit organizations and state government leaders in Charleston.

Many of McDowell’s residents are unable or unlikely to leave their long-time family homes, resulting in them now sitting in damp structures — some still without heat or running water — while mold starts to set in.

Dale Blevins, 70, stood in her damp basement, where patches of crystalized white mold were forming on the concrete walls. Volunteers cleaned out her basement after the flood; she didn’t know who would come in to remove the mold. Her husband relies on an oxygen tank, and the mold was likely already a danger for his health.

“I hate to ask for help,” she said, adding she hadn’t heard from any local or state officials. “Nobody has ever come here.”

The National Guard, church groups and other volunteers made their way through the county to help out. Those efforts have largely dried up. The local churches, many with elderly congregations, are limited in how they can help. Hundreds of homes still need to be cleared out and cleaned, residents say.

“We need the boots on the ground who are physically able to do the muck outs,” said Michael Brooks, a McDowell County commissioner. “It is hard work, it’s brutal work and very time consuming … I don’t know if some realize how dire the need is.”

Sydnei Tatum, 33, is a local business owner and photographer who took the images for this story. Over the last two months, she has cleaned out basements, handed out grocery gift cards and made lists of residents in need of everything from beds to refrigerators.

“I’m gonna fight for these people, because they have no one else to do it for them,” she said.

Tatum blamed the lack of recovery efforts on state leaders’ failure to prioritize McDowell County. They’d downplayed the crisis, she said.

“Purely because nobody is interested in the poorest areas of the county, and we are in it,” she said.

In February, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said the state “was in a position to act quickly,” while also requesting a federal disaster declaration to unlock resources for affected counties.

“We want to make sure we’re helping these southern counties recover,” Morrisey said at a press conference on Feb. 20 after visiting some parts of McDowell.

His spokesperson didn’t reply to questions for this story about the status of recovery efforts.

The flooding, which killed three people, happened during the legislative session; it wasn’t a major topic among lawmakers.

There isn’t dedicated funding in the recently-approved state budget for McDowell’s flood recovery.

Limited county funds, endless clean-up work

Carol Lester, 73, stood on her porch in Bartley, overlooking her washed out, sandy yard. She’d survived the flood, having to be rescued by two young men as water rushed into her kitchen and living room. She recalled how 911 couldn’t help her, then two men showed up and carried her husband, who is disabled, through the woods for five hours in the cold rain.

“We’ve been through five floods. This was the worst,” said Lester, who has been in her home for 51 years. “It seemed like you could hear the devil and his demons in that water.”

A destroyed sofa set was discarded in front of her house. It needed to be hauled away. She was waiting on a plywood delivery, hopeful that her family members could rip up her water-logged flooring.

No one other than Tatum had been by her house since the flood, Lester said.

Before the flood, McDowell was already facing hardships. It’s one of the poorest counties in the country, and some residents haven’t had clean drinking water for decades. Much of the county is located on a flood plain, and floods have swept through before. Fewer than 18,000 people now live in the county now that mining jobs have dried up.

The drop in population has impacted county finances reliant on local taxpayers, and Brooks explained that the bulk of money collected through personal property taxes goes to the board of education.

There isn’t enough left over, he said.

Thirty-six private bridges were washed out in the flood, some of which can’t be covered by Federal Emergency Management Assistance (FEMA) or county money. Some bridges may never be repaired.

“I wish to God that we had the funding that we could start fixing it. But, it’s not a few thousand dollar fix. It’s a hundreds of thousands dollar issue on some of the bridges,” Brooks said.

Brooks was frustrated over social media comments saying the county or state wasn’t doing enough. Morrisey had been helpful, he said, and required-government processes can be slow.

“I am bombarded, as well as the other commissioners, with more questions than answers at this juncture,” he said. “It’s not that we’re not trying to garner the answers or we’re trying to shrug these things off. But we’re a small county and a lot of times we don’t have resources.”

FEMA, which continues its efforts in the county, and Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) didn’t return requests for comment for this story. Some residents said they weren’t expecting much help from the federal aid.

Left: Ashley Rutherford’s kitchen was destroyed by the flooding in McDowell County. Right: Trash sits on the roadside in McDowell County on April 21, 2025, after the flooding. (Sydnei Tatum for West Virginia Watch)

Debris-filled water poses a future flood risk

The floors are still damp in Linda Wood’s home in the community of Berwind.

“I’m going to need new flooring, like linoleum,” said Woods, 61. She lost her stove, lawnmower, clothes, shoes and more in the flooding.

“I’m worried about the moisture getting under the mattress and causing mold,” she added.

Rain is forecasted this weekend in McDowell, causing anxiety for Woods. She pointed to a nearby stream, filled with debris leftover from the flood. Without clearing it out, she said, another flood was likely to hit her community at any time.

The area’s stream beds haven’t been dredged or restored since the 1977 flood, WVVA reported. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., recently visited McDowell, promising to request money to clean up the streams in hopes of preventing future flooding.

Earlier this year, Morrisey didn’t request funding for the state’s flood mitigation efforts through the State Resiliency Office. The Republican-majority in the House of Delegates rejected a Democratic lawmakers’ proposal to put $50 million in the state budget to protect from future floods.

Politics and state funding aren’t the main topics of conversation among McDowell residents in April. Neighbors are wondering how they’ll clean out their basements and remove the mountains of debris scattered alongside roads. There aren’t large dumpsters in the area, and the county would need to work with the state to create a designated dumping site.

Lester looked at a holly bush in her yard that had survived the flood. Her husband bought it for her years ago.

“God left that holly bush for a reason. It weathered the storm, but it still survived,” she said. “Every morning, when I get up, I look at the little holly bush. I get my strength from that.”

Two days before Christmas, the wife of a West Virginia lawmaker called 911 telling the operator she was concerned about him drunkenly handling assault rifles and screaming at people looking at Christmas lights in their neighborhood.

Del. Brandon Steele’s wife, Raleigh County Clerk Brianne Steele, told a 911 operator that she was worried that her “extremely agitated and very, very drunk” husband may start shooting and that her children were “terrified.”

According to a Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office police report, officers arrived at Steele’s residence following Brianne Steele’s call. No arrests were made related to the incident.

The report contains statements from Brandon Steele expressing concern about “possible threats regarding trials that he is working,” and concerns from Brianne Steele about her husband’s “paranoid” behavior and alcoholism.

Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh, did not attend the House of Delegates’ swearing in ceremony on Wednesday at the state Capitol.

He told West Virginia Watch that the “rumors being spread” around the incident are “vicious and disheartening.”

“The only statement I have is that we had an incident of someone stalking at our home on Dec. 23 to which the police responded. It is not the first time this has happened over the last six years,” said Brandon Steele, who is an attorney. “Police responded and came to my home, they cleared the scene and left. Law enforcement professionally and appropriately responded to the situation. They ensured my safety and my family’s safety.”

Brandon Steele said that he reported the incident to the Capitol police.

“My family and I are fine,” he said.

The 911 tapes were sent to House leadership and members of the media on Tuesday afternoon. House Speaker Roger Hanshaw announced the same day that Steele would serve as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, a leadership role in the body. The Judiciary Committee can be tasked with vetting bills impacting the criminal justice system, including penalties for domestic violence.

Hanshaw told reporters that he became aware of this situation late Tuesday and had not yet spoken with Brandon Steele.

“I only know what I’ve read online; which is to say not much,” said Del. J.B. Akers, the new vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee. “Everyone deserves a fair opportunity to respond and I hope the Steele family is given one. Speaker Hanshaw is a person of integrity and I’m sure he will handle this appropriately.”

“Personally, I said a prayer for the Steeles, especially the children,” said Akers, R-Kanawha.

In a 23-minute call to Raleigh County Emergency Services, Brianne Steele described the night’s events in hushed tones to a 911 operator while locked in a bathroom, her children “hiding in the bathtub.”

“He grabbed [the guns] off the wall in front of the kids and they’re terrified now,” adding that there were three children in the home.

According to the police report, “[Brianne] stated she did not observe any vehicles in front of their residence, however she did see him walking in and out of their home with his weapons while screaming. She stated that she believes Brandon is extremely paranoid. Brianne stated that Brandon is also a severe alcoholic.”

“Brianne was advised of how to obtain a mental hygiene if she chose to do so. She also stated that Brandon did not at any time threaten her or their children. Brianne then decided to leave for the night with their children to allow Brandon to sober up.”

Steele has served in the House since 2018.

As early voting kicks off on Wednesday, West Virginia’s political parties are trying to motivate voters in a state that has an abysmal voter turnout rate.

Population decline, poverty, transportation barriers and political party apathy contribute to a lack of West Virginians at the polls.

On a Tuesday in October, Marion County Democrats Chair Jarryd Powell sat in the county’s Democratic headquarters, a former hair salon now decorated with historical posters and a President Barack Obama bobblehead. Campaign signs for Democrat candidates in state-wide and local races filled the front windows.

He is trying to motivate local Democrat and Independent voters in one of the state’s remaining nine blue counties. There are Senate and House races on the local ballot that could potentially put more Dems in the Republican-majority Legislature.

“To motivate them, we’re saying, ‘This is still your party,” he said. “It might not be the party that they have heard it to be. We have some great candidates, and we are not what the opposition makes us out to be. We’re definitely going to see a push to utilize early voting.”

In 2020, West Virginia had the second-lowest citizen voting rate in the country, according to the U.S. Census, with 55% of residents voting. Only 30% of registered voters cast ballots in the May primary election earlier this year.

“In some parts of the state, you’re getting less than 30% turnout,” said Samuel Workman, director of the Institute for Policy Research and Public Affairs at West Virginia University. “It’s the mundane thing: do people think the election is close enough that their vote is going to matter?”

Former President Donald Trump is expected to carry West Virginia in November and claim the state’s four electoral votes. Neither Trump nor his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, have visited the state — unofficially marking it decided as red.

Around the state, Democrat and Republicans are trying to push the importance of down ballot races as residents will also vote for the next governor, Legislature members, a Constitutional Amendment regarding medically assisted suicide, and more.

“It’s busy. Every day we’re having conversations with voters,” said Paula Martinelli, vice chair of the Monongalia County Republicans. Her chapter has used billboards, mailers, television ads, social media and more to encourage people to vote. “The voters we’re dealing with are highly motivated. There’s a lot of motivation on their part to get to vote.”

Statewide, Republican voter registrations are growing, representing 41.2% of the state’s total registered voters. In Monongalia County, Republican voter registrations have also been growing, closing in on the number of registered Democrats in the blue county.

Secretary of State’s data in September showed 21,499 Monongalia County voters were registered as Republican, compared to 23,065 Democrat registrations. Less than 1,600 registration separated the two parties; in 2016, Democrats were 9,000 registrations ahead. Independent voter registrations have grown in the area, too.

Martinelli noted she was excited for Republican Jason Morgan, who is running to be county sheriff. There are Republicans looking to pick up or maintain House seats, she said, and there’s a Senate race in one part of the county.

The Marion County Democratic Headquarters in Fairmont, W.Va. (Amelia Ferrell Knisely | West Virginia Watch)

“We’re closer to flipping it every day. We’re moving that needle closer,” she said.

Lack of competitive races a factor in low voter turnout

Workman said a lack of competitive races, particular Democrats trying to win in a red state, has contributed to low voter turnout. Huntington Mayor Steve Williams, a Democrat running for governor, is significantly behind in fundraising compared to his opponent, Republican Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

Samuel Workman, director of the Institute for Policy Research and Public Affairs at West Virginia University

The [Democratic National Convention] has not spent a ton of money in the state,” he said. “Without competitive state races for Democrats, they’re going to stay home.”

There are other barriers, Workman said, like finding a ride to the polls in the state’s most rural areas with limited or no public transportation. Child care access, an ongoing issue in West Virginia, can also affect voter turnout.

The state’s staggering population decline – the fastest in the nation – has also contributed to low voter turnout, Workman said. Young people are leaving the state for job opportunities; voters have said it’s the top issue facing the state. “If you don’t see yourself here long term, it’s very difficult to become invested in elections,” he said.

The state’s Republican supermajority has considered and passed legislation targeted at improving the state’s economy; there has also been a consistent focus on social issues. The Legislature passed bans on abortion and gender afriming care while struggling to get a bill that banned child marriage across the finish line.

“If the state is disproportionate in its focus on those social issues, it means less attention to economic development,” Workman said. “[Young voters] prioritize, ‘Can I see myself having a great career here?’”

In Marion County, Powell said voters have begun focusing on the state Legislature more than the top of the ticket.

Lisa Zuckoff is sending informational postcards, pictured here, to registered voters in the Northern Panhandle. (Amelia Ferrell Knisely | West Virginia Watch)

“The focus has shifted towards what’s going on locally, and what the local representatives are actually doing down in Charleston,” he said. “I think they’re looking at their local candidates, then saying, ‘Here’s an opportunity where, even if the entire state might not flip, we want to try and make some gains within these districts.’”

As the election approaches, former House of Delegates member Lisa Zuckoff, a Democrat in Moundsville, has been working to register and educate voters in the Northern Panhandle.

“Just because you lose an election doesn’t mean what you care about goes away,” said Zuckoff, who lost her reelection bid in 2020 as the Republican stronghold grew. Children’s issues, like the state’s troubled foster care system and financially-struggling public schools, continued to drive her, she said.

Zuckoff, in conjunction with the Ohio County Democrat women’s group, took a data-driven approach to finding Democrats and Independents who don’t consistently vote.

“Independent voting increased in the last 10 years. That shows me that people aren’t happy with either party. Showing them that we care about them voting is important too,” she said. “We’ve been calling people on the telephone or texting them and reminding them how important it is to vote.”

She fundraised and used some of her own money to pay for informational postcards for voters.

“You have no idea who they’re going to vote for when they go to the poll, but the idea is that we will help everyone,” she said.

A complete list of early voting locations and sample ballots for each county are available on the West Virginia Secretary of State’s website.

The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com. Follow West Virginia Watch on Facebook and X.

A Boone County mother charged with child neglect linked to the death of her daughter had pulled the girl from public school for homeschooling, according to documents obtained from the local school district.

The 14-year-old girl was found April 17 “emaciated to a skeletal state,” local deputies said. Her grandmother told WCHS that the child had “only been outside the house possibly two times in the last four years.”

Documents obtained from Boone County Schools showed that the mother, Julie Anne Stone Miller, submitted documentation in February 2021 to homeschool her daughter.

West Virginia Watch received the documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Miller, in an email to former Boone County Schools Superintendent Jeff Huffman, said that her two daughters had elderly grandparents who they were with daily.

“We think homeschooling is the best now with the COVID-19 in order to keep our family safe,” Miller wrote.

Deputies previously told reporters that they were unsure if the girl was being taught at home or had failed to go to school.

Boone Superintendent Matthew Riggs did not respond to questions for this story, including if Miller had submitted homeschool student assessments that are required under state code.

A call to revisit homeschool legislation

The high-profile case has reignited conversations about legislation known as “Raylee’s Law,” which sought to close a loophole where parents could withdraw their children from public school if a teacher reported suspected child abuse.

West Virginia Watch asked Boone County Schools for any records showing if teachers had contacted CPS about the girl prior to her mother’s homeschool request. Riggs did not return any records and did not respond to a question verifying no records of that kind existed.

Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, holds up a poster of Raylee Browning, a child who died from abuse and neglect after her parents removed her from public school to homeschool her. The West Virginia House of Delegates passed House Bill 5180 with Raylee’s Law as an added amendment on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. Raylee’s Law would have prevented parents from removing their child from school to homeschool them if a teacher has reported them for abuse. (Perry Bennett | West Virginia Legislative Photography)

Gov. Jim Justice said on Tuesday that CPS wasn’t aware of the child prior to her death.

The West Virginia Department of Human Services has not returned FOIA requests for CPS records that would verify that information.

Since 2019, Del. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, has attempted to pass the legislation in various forms. It is named for Raylee Browning, an eight-year-old girl who died of abuse and neglect in 2018 after her parents withdrew her from school.

“I think this situation in Boone has brought new light to the situation,” he said. “Since Raylee’s law was introduced, how many children have been abused because of inaction?”

Earlier this year, legislation containing Raylee’s Law passed through the House of Delegates with bipartisan support after tweaks from lawmakers who homeschool their children.

The Senate Education Committee failed to take it up for consideration by deadline. Committee Chair Sen. Amy Grady, R-Mason, did not respond to a question about why it wasn’t considered.

“This isn’t an attack on people who homeschool. It’s an attack on people who abuse children,” Fluharty said. “That’s called good policy.”

He hopes to see the bill included in the governor’s call for the upcoming May special session.

Del. Josh Holstein, R-Boone, said that in light of the child’s death, he would like to see legislative action to prevent future tragedies. He voted in support of the bill.

“I think we’ve got to figure out a way to not curtail the rights of homeschool parents and not be intrusive but still have the well-being of children in mind,” he said. “This is a step in the right direction and something we can do.”

He noted that his community is filled with grief about the teen’s death.

“This is a conversation we should have had yesterday,” he added.

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com. Follow West Virginia Watch on Facebook and Twitter.

“Sharpe seems to be in the news all the time,” Secretary Michael Caruso responded Sunday during a legislative interim meeting. He assured lawmakers that employees are being properly screened.

The psychiatric hospital in Weston is operated by the state health department.

In the last six months, multiple Sharpe staff members have been arrested and charged with crimes. All of them were contract employees provided by hospital staffing companies, according to Mike Folio, legal director for Disability Rights West Virginia.

“It is impossible to provide the active treatment you have to provide because you’re so busy cleaning up the messes of these individuals,” Folio said. His organization is federally-mandated to protect people with disabilities in the state.

DHHR is currently under a federal investigation for its treatment of people with disabilities.

Folio said a former employee was one of four people charged in June related to a murder allegedly by a motorcycle gang in Marion County.

In September, former Sharpe employee Keefe Kiser was charged for having a sexual relationship with a female patient when he worked at the hospital. A co-worker complained about Kiser’s inappropriate behavior months before he was let go, and the alleged patient abuse came to light later.

Last week, the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources fired Tamra Jo Garvin after they learned of her being arrested and charged with murder. Garvin was charged in an incident unrelated to the psychiatric facility.

DHHR alerted the public only about the arrest of Garvin in a press release about her termination, saying a thorough employee screening process “revealed no cause for concern.”

The health department has faced years of scrutiny for its oversight of Sharpe and treatment of patients with disabilities. This year, a state inspection showed inadequate patient treatment plans at the facility, and disability rights advocates have maintained that the state is “warehousing” patients there with no plans for discharge back into their communities. There have also been staffing shortages — the hospital currently has more than 30% of positions vacant — causing DHHR to opt for nurse staffing companies to fill the positions.

According to a document provided by DHHR, the department currently uses dozens of contract agencies to provide nurses, nurse assistants and service workers at Sharpe.

“Our concern is that Sharpe is spending $58 million a year on contract services, and in the past few months, four of their individuals have been charged with crimes and not providing the services that they should,” Folio said.

Staffing agency employees account for 46.9% of hospital employees, according to DHHR Interim Director of Communications Jessica Holstein. Full-time state employees make up 44.4% of its staff; West Virginia University employees and temporary state employees are also there, she said in an email.

DHHR leaders have said that they’re working on increasing the wages for state workers in an effort to fill vacancies.

The health department declined to provide an interview with Caruso, who was appointed by Gov. Jim Justice to lead the new state Department of Health Facilities. The department was created under a 2023 bill that required DHHR to split into three new departments by Jan. 1.

Holstein said that all employees, including contract employees, “are required to complete a comprehensive fingerprint-based federal and state background check through WV CARES.”

Folio said the screening process isn’t what it should be, leading to multiple employee issues and problems at the facility.

His monitoring also found a state employee at Sharpe was involved in a Clarksburg bar shooting in April that resulted in hospitalizations. No arrests were made.

“They are taking who they can get,” he said.

Holstein said that the WV CARES system “diligently monitors criminal records and promptly notifies employers in the event of any subsequent changes in criminal record information.”

In all instances Sharpe has been made aware of or suspected that an employee violated hospital policies, Sharpe has reported the incident to the appropriate authorities and participated in the investigative process, she continued.

“[Sharpe] addressed the incident with appropriate disciplinary actions,” Holstein wrote in a statement.

State lawmakers, who have been routinely briefed on issues at Sharpe, are likely to introduce legislation in the 2024 Regular Session to address some issues at the facility.

West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. West Virginia Watch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Leann Ray for questions: info@westvirginiawatch.com. Follow West Virginia Watch on Facebook and Twitter.