Hundreds Flee Floodwaters in Southeast

Heavy rain doused much of the eastern part of the nation Thursday, sending gorged waterways over their banks and forcing hundreds of people in Virginia and Kentucky to evacuate their homes.

More than two inches of rain fell in six hours in Richmond, Va. Residents and merchants, fearing a repetition of 1985 floods that wrecked businesses, filled sandbags to protect against the rising James River. The city public utilities department offered sand to those willing to bag their own.

3 Deaths Reported

The slow-moving storm, which since Monday has caused several tornadoes from Texas to Florida and at least three deaths, spread rain from the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley through the Tennessee Valley, central and southern Appalachians to the mid-Atlantic states and North Carolina.

Gale warnings and coastal flood warnings were posted along the middle Atlantic Coast.

In the Midwest, early morning fog cut visibility to near zero from Minnesota and upper Michigan to Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, interrupting air travel in Chicago and forcing the Coast Guard to temporarily close the St. Mary’s River system in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to all navigation.

In southwest Virginia, as many as 350 residents of Buchanan were forced to flee their homes as the rain-swollen James River spilled over its banks, flooding low-lying areas.

Schools Used as Shelters

Schools were closed to serve as shelters for the residents forced to evacuate, said Capt. Jon Brewbaker of the Buchanan Rescue Squad.

“We’re having tractor-trailers coming in to haul the people’s belongings out,” Brewbaker said. “We have no idea when the river will crest.”

A 7-year-old boy drowned in Buchanan Wednesday after being swept down a stream near his home. His pregnant mother was injured when she jumped in to save him.

An additional 30 people were evacuated Thursday morning along Tinker Creek in Vinton, Va., where floodwaters rose to the first floors of nearby homes, and nine campers were forced to flee overnight from the Dixie Caverns campground in west Roanoke County, Va.

Flooding in Kentucky

In eastern Kentucky, rain rolling off the mountains caused streams and creeks to overflow, flooding roads and forcing the evacuation of about 15 families.