Cemetery with about 150 tombstones destroyed due to severe weather might not be cleaned up for 2 years or longer

OHIO COUNTY, W.Va. (WTRF) Hundreds of questions still must be answered after a devastating mudslide wiped out a large portion of a cemetery in West Virginia.

After heavy rainfall poured down throughout the Ohio Valley last week, several areas experienced mudslides, but none of them compared to the one that tore through Mt. Zion Cemetery in Wheeling.

Charles Yocke, the president and a volunteer for many years at the cemetery, said he received a call last Wednesday from a friend telling him about the mudslide. After the call Yocke headed to the cemetery but says he wasn’t prepared for what he was about to see.

Today, a historical preservation group from Charleston and a cemetery restoration company were at the scene to help gather information. In terms of when it will all be cleaned up Yocke says it could take up to 2 years or even longer.

”Soon as I hit the turn down there, I’m thinking the whole way out it’s just a little mudslide or whatever. But when I hit that turn and seen this, I couldn’t believe it. First thing in my mind was, What are we going to do?”

Charles Yocke – President, Wheeling Mt. Zion Cemetery Corporation 

Yocke estimates about 100 to 150 tombstones were moved throughout the cemetery as the mudslide took its own course.

“In that mess there, they’re in pieces. You know, some of these stones were real tall and they had four different sections to them, well they’re scattered everywhere.”

Charles Yocke – President, Wheeling Mt. Zion Cemetery Corporation 

After seeing the pictures online, West Virginia Del. Shawn Fluharty decided to reach out to Yocke. He says he understands when natural disasters like this happen there are people in the community that are heavily impacted.

“These are families here, and this is tragic for those families involved. We have hundreds of veterans who are buried here. This is important to the state of West Virginia, it’s important to wheeling and the northern panhandle. So if it’s important to them, it’s important to me as well,” Fluharty said.

Fluharty says right now, they are simply gathering information on what occurred and what steps are necessary moving forward. He says the biggest challenge will be seeing what funding they can get from different municipalities.

”We’re at that point now, whether it’s a state level, county level, federal level, let’s get everybody together and see what we can do to restore this area. And again, look, this is more than just people picking up a few shovels. You see the enormity of this project, and this is going to take a lot of manpower. It’s going to take a lot of resources, and we’re going to do our best to make that happen,” Fluharty said.

As of now, the cemetery is closed to public access and if anyone is caught walking around the mudslide they could be arrested.

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