Within a ten-month period, two devastating floods struck McDowell County and its residents. The first major flood came on Sunday, July 8, 2001, after heavy thunderstorms dropped more than eight inches of rain. By early afternoon, Elkhorn Creek, the Tug Fork River, and their tributaries overflowed, inundating Kimball, Landgraff, Eckman, Welch, Keystone, and Norfolk, knocking houses from their foundations and leaving people homeless. On May 2, 2002, a second severe thunderstorm dropped more than five inches of rain on McDowell County and caused extensive damage across the entire county. Roads, including U.S. Route 52, and bridges were closed by high water and landslide debris, and residents were stranded without power and telephone service. More than 2,000 structures were damaged, and 170 homes and businesses were destroyed. McDowell County was again declared a federal disaster area. In the days after the floods, communities helped one another rebuild as local groups, the Salvation Army, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Army Corps of Engineers, the National Guard, and others provided cleanup assistance, shelter, food, and water, while in later years many damaged homes and buildings were removed.