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Va flooding (con't)
More news on the flooding from today's (6/30/95) Washington Post:
"Helicopters shuttled in and out of the Blue Ridge foothills, rescuing
stranded families from a scene of sodden devastation yesterday, as the
death toll from a week of flooding in Virginia rose to six people with
two still missing.
..
"Flood waters and mudslides closed more than 400 roads throughout the
state and shut down a major freight line of the Norfolk Southern Railroad,
according to authorities. Route 29, a major north-south artery from
Northern Virginia to Charlottesville, remained closed at the Greene-
Madison county line, about 80 miles southwest of Washington, as
engineers assessed damage to a four-lane bridge over the Rapidan River.
The hardest-hit areas were in Madison, Rockbridge, Warren, Rappahannock
and Greene counties.
"There were no statewide figures yesterday for the amount of flood
damage or cost of the cleanup.
"But Brad Jarvis, the cooperative extension agent in Madison County,
made a preliminary estimate of $50 million damage to private property
there. .... Jarvis also estimated that 20,000 acres of cropland had
been destroyed, with 14,000 more acres damaged; that there was severe
damage to 200 farm buildings; that 1,000 miles of livestock fencing was
lost; and that about 600 hogs, sheep and cattle are missing.
....
"'This is really a tremendous disaster,' said Michael LaCivta, a spokesman
for the Virginia Department of Emergency Services. 'The possiblity
of localized flash flooding remains. Mother Nature just won't leave us
alone.'
"Weather forecasters said a cold front moving into Virginia from the west
could bring another wave of thunderstorms today and about an inch of rain
to the south-central part of the state that has been hit hardest so far.
'The best chance we have is still for some very heavy rain' said Jan Jackson,
a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Blacksburg.
....
"Officials at the U.S. Geological Survey, which measures the water levels
in the state's rivers and streams, said some water reached record levels
Wednesday. Flash-flood watches remained in effect all day yesterday,
although water levels in most of the swollen rivers started to fall.
Marshall
"Tarkus"
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