THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609080045
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL SIZEMORE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SOUTH BOSTON LENGTH: 113 lines
The forecasters knew it was coming, but Hurricane Fran's arrival in this Southside Virginia tobacco town was still a jolting event.
Fran's roaring winds woke Rosa Smith from a sound sleep about 4 a.m. Friday, having crossed the state line fresh from a punishing landfall on the North Carolina coast.
``One of my friends said, `Get out of here quick, the water's rising fast,' '' Smith, 63, said Saturday. And she did, leaving her modest frame house on Logan Street to the surging brown waters as the Dan River ranged far past its banks, soaking every room in the house.
Fran managed to sneak up on Smith's next-door neighbor, Irene Waller, 59, who lives with her son Ronald in a double-wide pre-fab home on stilts. The floodwaters surrounded the home as they slept.
Two South Boston police officers swam to their door and woke them up, and they were taken out by boat.
Farther down Logan Street, Mary Link was sweeping out the debris left behind by 7 inches of water in her house. The water had receded some under Saturday's sunny skies, but Link was hesitant to attempt a thorough cleanup because she was afraid the water would come back.
Indeed, town officials said Saturday the swollen Dan had not reached its peak. It was predicted to crest around 33 feet at daybreak today, 14 feet over flood stage and just inches shy of the record level of 1972.
South Boston was one of the hardest-hit spots in Virginia as runoff from the hurricane sent rivers and streams surging from their banks.
About 200,000 homes and businesses remained without electric power statewide, some with no prospect of regaining service until Monday. More than 600 roads were closed because of high water or downed power lines or trees.
Most of the damage was in Southside, central and northwestern Virginia. Officials said it would be several days before they assess the cost of the damage.
The intersection of U.S. Routes 58 and 501 in South Boston's Riverdale section was under 6 feet of water Saturday. Some 15 businesses were inundated and 40 more were isolated by the flooding.
Lloyd Franklin, who has operated a garage in Riverdale for 40 years, had worked until 10 p.m. Friday clearing equipment and merchandise out of harm's way. After all these years of doing business in a flood plain, it's become a familiar routine.
``It ain't nothing new to me,'' Franklin said, gazing out over the flooded intersection from a golf cart. ``We've moved out, I suspect, eight or 10 times over the years.
``We built a dike around the place eight or nine years ago. So the water might not come in this time.
``But it don't matter to me whether it rises or falls. We've done cleared everything out now.''
A short distance away, Allen Lawter, 33, was sawing up a huge white oak that fell in his parents' front yard, missing the house by inches. Behind the house, another half-dozen trees in a row cascaded to the ground, one after another like dominoes.
``We've got enough firewood for a lifetime,'' he said.
Dan Sleeper, administrator of Halifax County, which includes South Boston, called the flooding ``the worst in memory.''
The county's water treatment plant was shut down after being partially submerged in floodwaters. Residents were asked to ration water because tanks supplying drinking water will last only through the weekend.
In Pittsylvania and Campbell counties, police used a helicopter to search for a Gretna man missing since Friday morning. John Raymond Perkins, 60, left home for a doctor's visit in Lynchburg 25 miles away about the time the brunt of the storm battered that region, Perkins' wife told police.
In Rockingham County, as many as 10,000 people had fled their homes, said county emergency services director Bill O'Brien. Coast Guard helicopters plucked 22 people from their houses. None were in imminent danger.
The Elkton and Broadway business districts were flooded.
The National Guard rescued stranded residents in 13 localities in Southside and western Virginia, a spokeswoman said. Coast Guard helicopters were used in rescues in Page County.
Gov. George F. Allen and other politicians joined John Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for a tour of some of the hardest-hit areas. Allen said railroad tracks were ``strewn like spaghetti,'' and some bridges looked like they had been exploded with dynamite.
President Clinton declared Augusta, Halifax, Madison, Pittsylvania and Rockingham counties and the cities of Danville, Staunton, Harrisonburg and Waynesboro as disaster areas. Residents of the localities are eligible for federal aid, including low-interest loans for damaged homes or businesses and cash grants for temporary housing and some repairs.
Upriver from South Boston in Danville, flooding was severe but did not measure up to Friday's dire predictions.
The Dan crested at 7 feet above flood stage at Danville - short of the National Weather Service's forecast of 11-12 feet above flood stage. The record crest on the Dan is 10 feet above flood stage in 1972, also after a hurricane.
The storm's fatality total in Virginia remained at one: Thelma Botkin, 53, died Friday when she apparently tried to cross a flood-swollen creek in Highland County in an all-terrain vehicle. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot
While Rosa Smith, 63, safely evaded Fran's wrath, her South Boston
home didn't. Every room in the house was flooded.
BILL TIERNAN photos/The Virginian-Pilot
Eloise Franklin and Carolyn Smiley stay dry Saturday while surveying
the flooding in the Riverdale section of South Boston caused by a
swollen Dan River. The Dan was to peak - at 33 feet - today,
officials said.
Two South Boston policemen saved Irene Waller and her son, Ronald,
from floods Friday morning. The residents were asleep at home when
the officers swam up, woke them and took them away by boat.
KEYWORDS: HURRICANES HURRICANE FRAN VIRGINIA
FLOODING AFTERMATH by CNB