Two people have died in flash floods caused by torrential rains in West Virginia last week, the governor’s office said.
An emailed statement from Lars Dalseide, communications director for Gov. Patrick Morrisey, did not provide details on where the bodies were found or how the people died. Their identities were not immediately released.
They are the first confirmed deaths from last week’s floods, when forecasters said up to 7 inches of rain fell. Morrisey said some places received 4.5 inches in 37 minutes. Officials in north-central West Virginia have described the devastation as extensive.
Video and photos on social media showed submerged vehicles in parking lots, including at a Walmart in Weston where muddy water surged into the store. Across a nearby highway, a hotel’s main floor was inundated. Dozens of people stuck in submerged vehicles throughout the region had to be rescued, and floodwaters initially cut off access to them in some areas.
“The earliest generations of Root’s models relied on structured data and machine learning to improve pricing accuracy beyond traditional actuarial methods,” said Alex Timm, co-founder and CEO. “Today, advances in AI and foundation models allow us to extract predictive insights directly from complex, unstructured information while meaningfully accelerating feature generation and model development.”
Timm added that Root’s data assets now include 37 billion miles of driving data and more than 900,000 claims filed.
“Many large incumbents have scale and data, but continue to modernize decades-old technology stacks,” Timm said. “Many newer technology companies have modern software capabilities, but lack the regulatory infrastructure, claims experience, underwriting history, and capital foundation required to operate as an insurance carrier at scale.”
“We believe the insurance industry is entering a generational technology paradigm shift, and we are uniquely positioned to lead,” added Timm.
Root now operated in 37 states with the recent addition on New Jersey. Root also announced a partnership with Jerry, an insurance shopping platform, to expand its presence across digital marketplaces. The Columbus, Ohio-based auto insurer reported 483,921 policies in force at the end of Q2, up 6% from last year.