Severe flooding that impacted a West Virginia neighborhood allegedly stemmed from the construction of a nearby data center.
“Houses in the Meadowlands Estates subdivision in Mason County sustained damage Saturday from water and mud when a fence in a silt retention area at the Nscale construction site gave way during heavy rain,” WV MetroNews reports.
“The significant rainfall Saturday, May 23rd resulted in what Nscale officials have told us was a breach at the silt retention area of their construction site in Mason County which then impacted portions of the Meadowlands Estates subdivision. We are thankful the damage appears to have been limited primarily to garages, crawlspaces and HVAC equipment and no injuries have been reported,” Mason County state lawmakers said in a joint statement, according to the outlet.
“Local and state officials have been in communication with representatives from Nscale, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and the Governor’s Office, who coordinated an evaluation from the West Virginia National Guard. The company has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and has already deployed cleanup crews as well as contractors to assist affected homeowners. We remain in communication about immediate corrective actions as well as a prevention plan to help ensure an event like this does not happen again — here or anywhere else in West Virginia,” the statement continued.
Watch below:
“It’s never happened like that, and I’ve been here 30 years!”
Data Center construction causes severe flooding in Mason County, residents to be reimbursed for damages pic.twitter.com/EQJDzVZvW9
— THE WEST VIRGINIA HOLLER (@HollerWV) May 24, 2026
WV MetroNews has more:
The flooding came from an area where a site is being prepared for the Monarch Compute Campus working with Nscale on a data center. Fidelis New Energy announced the project earlier this year.
Monarch Site Manager Jason Bechtle released a statement to WSAZ-TV.
Bechtle said the rainfall was significant. He said the site’s stormwater controls were just checked last week and found to be in compliance.
“And now that this has happened to my house and my property, I’m worried about my children’s safety and my safety,” one resident said, according to WSAZ.
“Because now our house has been exposed to all this water underneath of it. I’m worried about mold. I’m worried about our health and safety,” the resident added.
Reason # 1,372 why Data Centers suck.
Severe flooding in Mason County relating to data center construction, residents to be reimbursed for damages https://t.co/AcMKz61sYK
— Cpt. Ted Striker (@CptTedStriker) May 25, 2026
WSAZ shared the full statement from Bechtle:
“This weekend’s storm dropped about a month’s worth of rain on us in 48 hours and put the whole area under a Flash Flood Warning. We were on site within an hour of the first call and we haven’t left. We’ve got restoration crews at each affected resident’s garage, hotel rooms for anyone who needs one, meals for anyone impacted, and we’re covering all cleanup and repair costs.”
“Our stormwater controls were inspected last week and found to be in compliance with the approved plan. But the intensity of this rainfall exceeded the design capacity of the temporary erosion controls in place during construction, and one section of silt fencing gave way under the force of the water. That section has already been reconstructed, and our crews are continuing to reinforce controls today across the site — cutting additional drainage channels, raising elevation in the low area to block water from moving toward the neighborhood, and layering in extra sediment protection.”
“We recognize there is more rainfall in the forecast and our teams are ready and prepared to mitigate any future impact. These are our neighbors, and we’ll be here until the job is done.”
