HENDERSON COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — A group of West Virginia miners have become a beacon of hope in the eyes of some Bat Cave families who have felt the impact of their presence in their leveled town.
According to reports, the group has been in the town for the past several days to clear debris and help dig people out of their homes, and in some cases, have helped rebuild their driveways.
Local leaders have said that their work has been incredibly helpful, but misinformation has been spread through social media videos associated with it.
Over the weekend, a person who is believed to be a part of the group shared a video of a smoothed-out dirt road that connects Bat Cave to Chimney Rock.
In the video, the person who posted it stated that the group is the only one that has been in Bat Cave and rebuilt a completely washed-out road.
This sentiment has been shared multiple times, with the Governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, posting about it on Monday.
He wrote, quote, “Another reminder of why West Virginia miners are the absolute best in the world. These men ran to the aid of North Carolina and are helping rebuild the road from Bat Cave to Chimney Rock — which some thought was impossible. Thank you for pulling the rope together and being amazing!”
There were other videos posted on the TikTok account that made other claims and pushed for the West Virginia Boys to get credit for the job being done.
Henderson County Sheriff Lowell S. Griffin sat down with Queen City News on Monday and explained there is more context to these claims.
“There have been no roads built,” he stressed when asked about the claims that the group rebuilt a road. “There was a path basically that was clear…on an old wagon trail around a ridge.”
The road, which some have associated with the group’s work, is a concrete road that remains destroyed. NCDOT has continued to investigate how to approach rebuilding it.
Sheriff Griffin also stressed that the group has “helped a lot of people and there are a lot of folks in Bat Cave who are appreciative of what they’ve done…and what they continue to do.”
There have also been concerns over situations like this, in the scope of the rebuild.
NCDOT crews have expressed concerns to local leaders that dirt roads made by private companies could lead to unstable ground and cause future landslides.
One official stated, “You’re destabilizing ground that has already experienced a lot of trauma.”
Sheriff Griffin also stated that, in the case of the Bat Cave dirt road to Chimney Rock, some of it goes through private property.
“I don’t have the authority to just give someone the authority to go through people’s property,” he explained from his office on Monday.
This apparently led to a confrontation with an individual of the group who posted a video on TikTok of the encounter.
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An official appeared to stop two people from entering Chimney Rock. A conversation then unfolded which led to the official claiming that there had been at least one complaint around private property.
Sheriff Griffin confirmed there had been some private property discussions, but no one had officially filed a law enforcement complaint.
The sheriff later confirmed that the individual associated with the “misinformation” was no longer on site even though West Virginia Boys remained on the scene.
Sheriff Griffin said that communication has improved between the groups and local, and federal resources and that it is not about taking credit for a job but helping people in the community.
“Due to a lack of communication between themselves, I don’t think we’ve been able to accomplish what we could’ve been able to…but all of those (miscommunication) issues have been resolved.”
Queen City News reached out to the poster of the videos, and the West Virginia Governor for insight, but have not heard back.
