After flooding, Bucs, Class A club aid W. Va. community

PITTSBURGH — Torrential downpours and flash floods pounded parts of West Virginia on June 23. The damage was catastrophic. 23 people were killed, hundreds of homes were destroyed and thousands of people were left without power.

When Ken Fogel saw the flooding, he knew the West Virginia Power had to help. So the Pirates’ Class A affiliate, based in Charleston, went to work. They devised a plan that, with help from the Pirates, raised $50,000 toward flood relief efforts for the West Virginia region of the American Red Cross.

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“Like any disaster, it’s on everyone’s mind,” said Fogel, the Power’s executive vice president. “Everyone knew someone who was affected.”

Several of the Power’s game-day employees were affected, Fogel said. He recalled seeing one distraught employee wearing the same clothes to work a few days in a row, obviously suffering from some form of the loss impacting nearly the entire state.

Forty-four of West Virginia’s 55 counties were placed …

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