Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507030058
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, said he expected the presidential declaration to come early next week, which would mean federal disaster relief teams could arrive by midweek to start signing up people for grants and low-interest loans.
"We've been talking to the folks at FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency], and they tell us as soon as the president makes a decision, they'll be on site within two to five days," Goodlatte said as he inspected flood damage in Buena Vista and Glasgow .
He said hundreds of people there were still unable to return home.
"It's just amazing," Goodlatte said. "The roads are completely ripped out. There are boulders 2 feet in diameter - hundreds of those and thousands of smaller rocks in 5- to 6-feet high piles. I've never had that concept of the force of this water coming out of the mountains before."
He called it remarkable that no one was killed in Roanoke during the flooding.
The water continued to pour out of those saturated mountains Friday, and the soggy clouds stalled over the Blue Ridge offered little respite.
Allen; U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va.; U.S. Sen. Charles Robb, D-Va.; and the head of FEMA, James Lee Witt, helicoptered around the state to inspect flood damage, but a late-afternoon thunderstorm kept the government leaders from touching down as planned in Buena Vista. Only Goodlatte, driving in from Washington, D.C., made it to the scene.
Friday's storm dumped up to an inch of rain on some parts of Rockbridge County, but produced no significant flooding this time around, the National Weather Service said.
The weather service forecast more rain through Sunday morning but expressed hope that a front now creeping across the Midwest might blow dry air into the region Sunday afternoon or Monday.
One promising sign was that stronger winds were stirring in the upper atmosphere. When thunderstorms boiled up again Friday afternoon, those upper-air winds kept the storm clouds moving - instead of lingering over one spot and dumping their entire rainfall in one place as they had been doing.
Throughout the region, people digging out from almost a week's worth of flash flooding marked victories, big and small.
In Glasgow, site of the worst flooding in Western Virginia, textile maker Burlington Industries estimated its damage at $12 million. However, no machinery or finished carpet was damaged in the flooding, and the company began shipping out carpet again Friday. The factory was scheduled to resume production on a limited basis this morning.
Burlington had been scheduled for a summer shutdown beginning today, but company executives said they were inviting available employees to work during the eight-day break.
The hardest-hit part of the state, though, appeared to be Madison County, in the Blue Ridge foothills north of Charlottesville. Damage there was estimated at more than $60 million, well above the $47.6 million in Rockbridge, Lexington and Buena Vista.
Helicopters continued to rescue Madison County residents stranded by washed-out roads and mudslides, and as many as 20 people remain unaccounted for in the chaos. A 60-year-old woman who was washed downstream with her house remained missing in Madison County; so was a 3-year-old girl swept away in nearby Warren County.
Six people are confirmed dead in Virginia's flood of '95; three of those deaths occurred in Franklin County.
The disaster package Allen announced is a public-private partnership that would offer flood victims low-interest loans and a temporary moratorium on mortgage payments. First Union Bank, Crestar Bank and Jefferson National Bank joined two state housing agencies in putting together the deal.
Flood victims seeking information should call (800) 227-VHDA.
First Union Bank advised that its customers could call the bank directly at (800) 654-9322 to ask about flood assistance.
If Clinton approves federal disaster aid, Goodlatte said it would consist of grants and low-interest loans to flood victims; grants to local governments for cleanup and repairs to public facilities; and funding for flood-control programs.
Staff writer Jeff Sturgeon and the Associated Press contributed information to this story.
Keywords:
FATALITY
by CNB