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But some residentsÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ late night check-ins on the creek could dissipate soon with the installation of a new stream gauge on Fourpole Creek. The gauge will give immediate water level data, and it will give emergency officials and residents early alerts when conditions start to change.

The stream gauge is expected to improve response times and give flood-prone neighborhoods notice of rising creek levels. It will be a Doppler radar stream gauge in collaboration with the state, Cabell County 911 Director Nazim Abbess II said.

The stream gauge will be mounted along Fourpole Creek in the area of Green Valley Road.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIt is our hope that this will give them an early warning system that when the creek is to the flood stage, weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll send out an alert and say, ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œHey, the creek is in flood stage here at this location,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Abbess said, along with whether residents should evacuate or get to higher ground.

Testing out the stream gauge

The stream gauge will be tied into the state of West Virginia Emergency Management Division (WVEMD) IFLOWS rain gauges and the USGS stream gauges system. WVEMD will monitor the stream gauge. Cabell officials will be able to receive the same information on the website, Abbess said. WVEMDÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s IFLOWS system consists of three base stations and 256 monitored meteorological gauges, all of which contain rain monitoring sensors.

Cabell County 911 will set parameters and receive alerts as the water rises. Abbess said the end goal is to tie it in with its Cabell County Alert and Safety System (CASS). When it gets to a critical point, it will notify people signed up for alerts that flooding is imminent, he said. Residents can also get on the stateÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s website and monitor the live reports.

Abbess said a spot was identified in Fourpole during the May 2022 flood that when the water reaches the area, officials and residents have about an hour before it reaches Enslow Park. However, Abbess said now measurements of the levels will be taken to determine the parameters that will be set to warn residents and officials of impending flooding.

Right now, the CASS system is manually driven, meaning someone has to physically see the water rise or a resident has to report it to Cabell County 911 before an alert is sent out by an individual, Abbess said.

While he is not as worried about water rising during the day since safety officials are out keeping an eye on the water, Abbess said he worries about the water rising during the night when very few people are awake.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œRight now, somebody has to have eyes on the creek. They have to see the water is coming up, and if itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s in the middle of the night like it was the last time, we didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t necessarily know that the creek had gotten that high because everybody was in bed,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Abbess said.

The stream gauge is expected to be installed by July 1. Once the gauge is installed, Abbess said, Cabell County 911 will work with the vendor of its CASS alerts to set up the system to send the automatic messages.

Residents can sign up for the at . The system has special categories for flooding.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThis is just something that we are going to try as a prototype,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Abbess said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIf we see that this works well, then my goal is to maybe do this in a couple other areas in the county that flood.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Cabell County 911 is paying approximately $5,000 for the stream gauge, Abbess said.

The Herald-Dispatch asked City of Huntington Communication Director Evan Lee for any updates on flood preventatives for neighborhoods along Fourpole Creek. The city did not answer the inquiry by press time Monday.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥˜You cannot not think about itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™

After the latest flood on Feb. 6, 2025, Abbess said it became clear that something needed to be put in place to alert officials and residents along the Fourpole Creek in real time when the creek rises. Abbess said the project came about when Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell asked him if there was anything they can do to send out automatic alerts ahead of high water events.

In February, rainfall totaling 2.5 inches in Cabell County caused Fourpole Creek to swell and enter several homes of residents and cause property damage. A shelter-in-place advisory was declared and first responders performed welfare checks on Enslow Park and Southside residents.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIt wasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t until people started calling in when water started coming in their homes that we knew the creek was coming up that much,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Abbess said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThey had forecasted rain, but we didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t know we were getting that significant amount of rain.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

Gail Sheets, a resident of the Enslow Park neighborhood of three years, said she thinks the stream gauge will make residents feel safer.

ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œYou simply cannot not think about it,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Sheets said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œOnce itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s raining hard and that water starts creeping and you can see it, then thatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s all you can think about.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥�

She experienced flooding in her home even before she moved in. Sheets said the May 2022 flood ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” the second large-scale flooding event to happen in Huntington within nine months after roads were flooded in August 2021 ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” caused water to fill her crawl space while she was in the process of moving into the home. She lost her furnace and air conditioning in the flood, which she said was not as bad as what her neighbors suffered. After the flood, her flood insurance was increased.

Sheets said the water came into her backyard during the February flooding and left six inches of mud, describing the aftermath as ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œa mess.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥� Sheets said she likes her home and does not wish to move but hopes more preventative action will also be incorporated.