Rain Prompts Flooding

CLIFTON FORGE – The heavy rains only lasted about three hours Saturday, but that was enough time for the water to override drainage systems in Clifton Forge and Iron Gate.

The rain lasted from about 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and caused flooding in the eastern end of Alleghany County.

The rain came down so fast that there was no place for the water to go, and that caused many roads in the area to flood. Some had to be closed because of high water and water accumulating in low places.

Superintendent Robbie Boyd of the Clifton Forge Fire Department reported that at least five houses had basements pumped because of high water.

The Clifton Forge Pizza Hut on Main Street closed because of high water that entered the restaurant. The Pizza Hut did not reopen Saturday, but it was open on Sunday.

One other restaurant, the Red Caboose on Main Street, also had some water enter the restaurant, but it did not close.

Public works crews also had to clean up some debris in front of Clifton Forge Town Hall that had washed down from closed storm drains.

Several streets throughout Clifton Forge had to be closed temporarily because of overflowing drains that covered the road with water, and cars could not pass.

One of the biggest jobs that public works encountered was a mud slide that slid into the road just past Kroger. It blocked one lane of Rt. 60 at the Kroger Shopping Center.

Clifton Forge work crews also had to close the Rose Street Parking Lot because of high water. Dry Creek runs beside the parking lot into a culvert that runs under Ridgeway Street and then follows a route that runs beside the CSX tracks to the bottom of Farrar’s Hill. There it merges with Smith Creek and flows into the Jackson River.

Flooding is not uncommon in the Rose Street Parking Lot. In the flood of 1985, a car got lodged into the culvert, blocking it and causing Dry Creek to form a dam at that location.

There were some roads east of Clifton Forge had to be closed temporarily by the Virginia Department of Transportation because of high water.

Residents of the Nicelytown area of Alleghany County lost power once on Saturday and again on Sunday.

The Cowpasture River rose out of its banks in places but did not cause any significant damage. The river did cover the road in front of some of the camps on the lower end of Riverland Road, but residents could still get to their camps by using another road in back of the camps.

Iron Gate had some of the same problems as Clifton Forge when water came off the hill at Wesgate and flooded some manholes. Water backed up in about 15 houses, according to Mayor Alan Williams.

He reported that one manhole overflowed near the town playground, forcing the playground to be closed by the town until work crews could clean up around the manhole and lay some lime at the spot.

Mayor Williams said he would report the manhole overflows to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality on Monday.

Clifton Forge will also report their overflowed manholes to the DEQ as soon as possible.

Clifton Forge had one manhole that was still overflowing at 6 p.m. Saturday night in front of the Golden Age Nursing Home across the street from the old Virginia State Police station on Main Street.

Minor flooding problems occurred in Covington. The Chestnut Street underpass was temporarily closed by high water.

Several rooms at Covington High School were also reportedly damaged by water leaking through the ceiling.

Some high-water issues were also reported in Bath County.
Flooding was reported in downtown Hot Springs. Water was reported in the Hot Springs Pharmacy and in the Virginia ABC store.

In the Millboro area, flooding was reported in the Lower Yard area, while the Bolar area also reported some high water.

Fewer problems were reported in the Williamsville and Burnsville areas Saturday, where flooding earlier last week prompted the Bath County Board of Supervisors to issue a disaster declaration.

Coming on the heels of last Tuesday’s heavy rains, the added rain Saturday prompted flooding conditions.

The area just had too much rain water in a short time for the drainage system to handle, but around 2 p.m. the sun came out, and it wasn’t long before everything got back to normal in the Clifton Forge area.

One activity that did go on as planned was the Kids Fun Day held at the Alleghany Highlands YMCA.

Although it rained hard at the start of the event, the rain didn’t stop the parents and grandparents from taking their kids to the YMCA for some fun.