MINGO COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) – Over the hillside of Tug Valley High School in Mingo County, at just the right angle, you can catch a view of the school’s fighting spirit — it’s a sign that says ‘Valley Strong.’

“Valley strong means that we’ll come back from this,” Principal Douglas Ward said.

It’s a mantra the school is relying on even more after massive flooding from Den Branch Creek submerged the football field and its locker room.

The football locker room is ripped apart, insulation from the ceiling now dangles, and everything inside is caked in mud.

A few hundred yards away, the baseball and softball field’s hillside are eroding, threatening to drag the fence line into the water.

Principal Ward estimates tens of thousands of dollars in damages, and as he looks to the field, he wants to prevent this from happening again.

“This is just something that continually happens, and our kids suffer because of it. I would just like to see us have a long-term plan instead of, rather than we’re going to come back and fix this, and it’s gonna flood again,” Ward said.

It’s all about looking for big changes that he said would ensure his school isn’t facing this same opponent in future years.

“We’re having real problems here, what is the logical thing to do? We are in the education business, but we need some help, it’s gonna be money, it’s gonna be big money, but it’s something that needs to happen for our kids to be on the same playing field as what is going on in the other communities,” Ward said.

Despite it all, Ward highlights the togetherness of those in his community as a reason why Tug Valley will persevere and bounce back ‘Valley Strong’.

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