Such conditions in West Virginia caused the flash flooding, said Michael Charnick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston, W.Va.

Long before flash floods damaged communities in Ohio and Marion counties this month, West Virginia University researchers were studying community resilience in flood-devastated areas of the state ...

Blair Mountain, in southern West Virginia, is a bit under 2,000 feet tall, dense with trees and trilling birds. In some ways, it’s like any of the other pretty ridges in the vast Appalachian ranges.