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photo by: Derek Redd

A landslide that destroyed a house on Park View Road has started covering the road itself. The West Virginia Division of Highways said it would monitor the slideÀÏ˾»úÖ±²¥™s status at least through the weekend.

WHEELING — Park View Road in Wheeling remained closed on Friday as West Virginia Division of Highways workers continue to monitor the area for potential mudslides.

The road is open to local traffic, but will remain closed to through traffic at least through the weekend, said Charlie Reynolds, district manager for DOH District 6.

A house on the hillside there was destroyed last month amid heavy rains, flooding and a landslide. Now the falling soil has started to cover Park View Road, creating concern for both residents and those who travel the road.

“We’ll leave it closed over the weekend, monitor it and go from there,” Reynolds said. “We’re expecting rain, and that’s our main reason for keeping it closed.”

He was asked if there was any concern the hillside could move all at once, come down onto the road and leave residents completely blocked.

“There’s always going to be that concern. It moved a house above,” Reynolds said. “It could all come down.

“Right now, we’re looking at rain for a whole week – from Saturday through next Friday. We’re going to have to keep close and see what happens. If it comes down, we’ll go in and clean it up.”

He added there haven’t been any thoughts on a long-term solution to stabilize the hillside.

“Not at this point. It is off of our right-of-way,” Reynolds explained. “We’re monitoring it now because it is coming down into the road.

“There’s going to be a lot of work here coming up.”

Teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency came to the area two weeks ago and toured parts of Northern Panhandle communities most affected by flooding. They compiled a record of the damage they saw, then submitted it for possible presidential declaration as a national disaster. If the area is declared a federal disaster area, residents affected will be able to apply for federal reimbursement through FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program.