West Virginia Victims Find Hope: 'I've Got Jesus Now, I've Got Him in the Flood'

HICO, West Virginia - The areas most devastated by recent flooding in West Virginia have been cleared to get federal disaster assistance.

But local churches and ministries are already taking the lead, and Operation Blessing is en route to the disaster zone to bring help and hope to flood victims trying to make sense of the damage.

As of right now there are still 22 counties in West Virginia that are still under a flash flood watch, and it's been raining on and off during the day.

But people are coming together in small churches across West Virginia and bringing tons of supplies to help those who have been affected.

Sunday Road Baptist Church is one of thousands of small churches across the state that make up an integral part of West Virginia culture.  And when people are in need, they've always been there to help. Allen Donaldson is their senior pastor.

"We've built this building for a lot of purposes, and we've used it as an emergency center a couple of other times but nothing this extravagant," Donaldson said.

"We started receiving people Thursday morning early. We've had hundreds of people go through here. The most we've put up at night is seventy-something," he said.

Donaldson says as people start to go back to their homes there will be a massive need for cleaning supplies.

"Rubber boots, any kind of gloves, cleaning products of any kind, mops, brooms, shovels, we've shipped out every bit of them we have, but they'll need lots and lots of those," he said.

Cindy Jo Salim is one of the victims who lost her home in the flood.

"I was going to ride this one out, but about 3:30 I changed my mind and I thought 'Dear Lord, I've made a bad choice,'" she recalled.

"I measured it on my porch…and it rose two feet and six inches in 17 minutes," she said.

Sunday Road Baptist welcomed Salim and her neighbors on Friday night, and have provided shelter, medical care, food and clothing, and a place to figure out what's next.

Salim isn't sure what she'll do now after losing all of her material possessions, but that's not what concerns her the most at this moment.

"You know, I've got Jesus now. I've got Him in the flood, I've got Him in the fire, and I've got Him after this body dies," she said. "Our hearts are breaking for those people that didn't have that peace and comfort and assurance."