Virginia flooding kills five
RICHMOND, Va. – Flooding touched off by the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston left at least five people dead in Virginia on Tuesday and devastated a historic Richmond neighborhood that was the heart of the Confederate capital during the Civil War.
In the city’s hard-hit Shockoe Bottom district, dozens of cars that had been carried off by the raging floodwaters were strewn about the streets, which were caked with mud and scattered with bricks and other debris. Numerous businesses and apartments were flooded. A produce truck lay overturned. A brick building had collapsed onto several vehicles.
Residents and city officials described a scene of terror as floodwaters fed by a foot of rain swept through the low-lying area on Monday, reaching depths of up to 10 feet. Rescue crews helped lift passengers out the windows of a marooned bus, and panicked motorists raced to escape their cars as the floodwaters engulfed them.
City officials closed off 20 blocks of the Shockoe Bottom district – or about half of the historic area – near the James River, declaring them off limits until the buildings can be inspected to make sure they are safe.
Officials said the damage would be in the millions of dollars but that it was too early to provide an estimate.
The storm surprised meteorologists, who had forecast no more than 4 inches of rain. But the system parked itself over the Richmond area for several hours. Northeast of the city, rural King William County received 14 inches, the National Weather Service said.
Most of the buildings in the low-lying district are two- and three-story brick structures, primarily warehouses and other commercial buildings converted to restaurants, nightclubs and loft apartments. A few buildings date from before the Civil War.
In the 19th century, the Shockoe Bottom district was a thriving industrial center of tobacco warehouses and factories, most of which was reduced to smoldering ruins after the city fell to Union troops in 1865.
A floodwall built in the 1990s protects shops, restaurants and homes, but it was designed to hold back the James – not a sudden deluge from the sky.
On Monday, rushing water swept away cars and trucks and smashed them into buildings.
At least five people died in the storm. Two of them died in a creek in Richmond. In nearby Chesterfield County, rescuers pulled a woman’s body from a submerged car Tuesday. Two other deaths occurred in Hanover County north of the city.
About 51,000 customers of Dominion Virginia Power had no electricity Tuesday, mostly in the Richmond area.