Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 30, 1995 TAG: 9506300091
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GLASGOW LENGTH: Medium
As heavy equipment cut through a mountain of mud and rocks on U.S. 501 near Glasgow on Thursday morning, the figures of two young men appeared in the distance.
In his arms, one cradled a sad memento of Wednesday's flood: a fawn, battered and bloody.
"He was beneath the rocks near the bridge," said Clyde Hamilton, one of the baby deer's rescuers.
"We dug him out with our hands," said Buck Wilkerson, the other. "I just touched the deer on the rear end and he went up to him [Hamilton]."
Not unlike the fawn, much of Rockbridge County on Thursday morning was digging out.
The swish of water beneath brooms replaced the ring of cash registers for local businesses. Weary residents returned to homes soggy from the overflow of mountain streams and rivers out of control.
The sun appeared, drying the slimy mud. Still, at Glasgow, firefighters had to use their hoses to help push silt from the floors of local businesses into parking lots outside.
Georgie Harrison, who manages Deno's convenience store, was thankful for the help.
"If it wasn't for the fire department, we'd have a really hard time," she said.
Firefighters and rescue workers gained hero status in this small town at the convergence of the Maury and James rivers. After helping residents to safety as the waters rose in the wee hours Wednesday morning, they were back on the job Thursday.
They used their equipment to help residents pump out basements saturated with several feet of water. They used their hoses to clear driveways littered with an array of mud, rock and wood.
Helen Moore, 67, considered herself fortunate, even though she's been flooded four times before.
Her children were worried as she returned to the house on Gordon Street, walking on a knee still brittle from a joint replacement. And she's still weak from battling breast cancer last fall.
Moore credits her perseverance to "good willpower" and the "Good Lord."
"This will go on as long as the world stands," she said. "It's in the Lord's hands. I don't feel alone. It's happening in every little county in Virginia."
But she wondered how many times she could come back from a flood.
"I'm not able to move this mud every foggy morning," she said.
In addition to the mud-soaked stuffed Porky Pig and a box of toys that she kept for children she baby-sits, she lost her guinea pig, Jeff, who drowned in his crate. Bandit, her pet raccoon, was missing and presumed dead.
At least 3 feet of water swept through her small house, leaving behind a trail of mud for her two sons and daughter to clean up.
Burlington Industries, which reopened Thursday with workers on cleanup duty, provided trailers so that residents could store their furniture while cleaning their houses.
James Caldwell, 77, and his wife, Livonia, 73, have made a decision that they'll leave their Gordon Street home of 47 years rather than fight floods again. They plan to move back to their native Clifton Forge.
"This is it," Livonia Caldwell said. "We're getting too old for this."
She cited his quintuple-bypass surgery. He said living on a fixed income was the cause.
"I can't see it any other way," he said.
The last time it flooded, it cost the couple $21,000 to repair the house, and they're not hopeful about how much their flood insurance will pay this time.
They admit this flood cut a little deeper than before. James' pride and joy - a 1977 Oldsmobile Toronado with only 50,000 miles - was in their garage and under water.
Inside the house, water poured over most of their possessions, including their kitchen appliances.
"My refrigerator is running, but it never sounded like this before," Livonia Caldwell said. "It sounds like it has a cold."
Super 8 motel in Lexington is putting up the couple free of charge until they can get their house back in order.
Farther down Gordon Street, Brian Claytor, 32, was still trying to figure out why an elm tree in his yard fell, even before the flood struck.
"The weight of the water did it, I guess," he said.
It didn't help matters that his mother-in-law's car was underneath. Fortunately, the car suffered only a broken window.
Claytor said only one thing will make him happy.
"Send the governor," he said.
by CNB