Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 29, 1995 TAG: 9506290106
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
More than 10 inches of rain pounded Glasgow between midnight and noon, almost double what fell there during the infamous flood of 1985.
The rapidly rising floodwaters damaged more than 800 homes and sent 2,500 people, mostly in Glasgow and Buena Vista, packing for evacuation centers. Rescuers took to boats to pick up folks who didn't make it out in time. A state police helicopter plucked to safety two adults and three children who had been stranded on a waterlogged patch of ground near Buena Vista.
Gov. George Allen boarded a helicopter of his own to inspect flood-stricken communities along the Blue Ridge Mountains, including a late-afternoon stop in Buena Vista.
The rains - the fallout from two slow-moving weather systems that ran into each other over the Appalachians - were notoriously spotty, with some areas flooding while sunshine broke through over others.
nIn Giles County, the rains came late Tuesday night. Mudslides closed some roads, and water flooded some county offices in Pearisburg.
nThe Roanoke Valley was dry most of the day Wednesday, until a suppertime cloudburst flooded some streets, most notably in Salem.
nBut the worst flooding came in eastern and central Rockbridge County, where drenched citizens drew comparisons with previous floods that have ravaged their communities.
"In this particular area, it's worse than either the '69 or '85 floods," said W.F. Knick III, a supervisor with the Virginia Department of Transportation at Fancy Hill.
Yet other parts of the county reported barely an inch of rain, according to the National Weather Service.
Last week's flooding left $4 million in damage across Rockbridge, county emergency services spokesman Bob Claytor said. ``I can't begin to tell you how much more besides that'' this storm has done, he said.
Staff writers Ron Brown, Mike Hudson, Mary Bishop, Richard Foster and Kathy Loan contributed information to this story.
by CNB