Evening star., 1944-09-19
Floods Ruin Bridges,
Tie Up Rail Traffic
In Western Virginia
By the Associated Presa

By the Associated Press.
Flood waters from rivers and
creeks in Westerr. Virginia swept
away several bridges. interrupted
highway and rail trafIic ard carried
today the threat Of one Of the worst
floods in years in the lower James
River.
Scottsville had ! to S feet Of flood
waters from the James in some
streets, while an all-time high flood
crest Of IS to 38 feet WAS forecast
for Bremo Bluff by the Lynchburg
Weather Bureau.
Southern Railway trafic On the
main line via Danville was brought
to . standstill by flood waters.
On the basis Of early reports, q
"very bad" flood Of above 20 feet
was expected 1T Richmond by
Weather Bureau omcials. Flood
stage IL feet and the highest level
on record at Richmond was ass fest
In 1896.
More Rain Forecast.
Intermittent rains were forecast
for Virginia today and tonight, but
these were not expected to add ma
terially to the flood threat, weather
onicials stated. Torrential rains yes
terday flooded streams in Western
Virginia and furnished the threat
for floods in the lower reaches Of
the rivers. ,'
The Dan River at Danville was at
II feet, or flood stage today and was
still rising. Chatham was cut on
from Danville by high water At
Cherry Stone Greek, while railway
service was interrupted because OF
washouts.
Highway omcials reported there
will be considerable damage to high
ways between Danville and Lynch
burg, between Amherst and Char
louisville, and possibly In the vicin-
ity Of Halifax. No high water was
reported west Of the Blue Ridge.
Route 70 between Charlottesville
and Chatham, by way of Lynchburg,
was blocked by high water. Several
small steel bridges were swept away.
Ondcials estimated it would take q
week .or longer to rebuild bridges
and repair the damaged roads.
Main Line Trafic Halted.
High water undermined the
Southern Railway tracks 1T Syca-
more, near Altavista, bringing to q
standstill traflc on the main line
South via Danville. The Norfolk Il
Western tracks also were flooded be-
tween Roanoke and Lynchburg, but
trafnc was proceeding over 4 single
track on a curtailed schedule.
Approximately 30 passengers
aboard a Virginia Stage Lines bus
bound from Lynchburg to Char
lottesville were marooned for several
hours last night when the approach
to a bridge over Coves Greek, south
of Covesville, was washed out.
Roanoke had q record-breakins
fall of 6.13 inchess In II hours,
topping anything on the books Of
the Weather Bureau there. The
Roanoke River climbed rapidly,
halting the turbines at the Ap-
palachian electric power dam east
Of Vinton. Glade Greek went On
a rampage in Vinton, flooding
homes near the william Byrd Ee-
mentary School.
Stanton Near F1ood Stage.
Staunton River also was approach
ing food stage last night, ragins|
creeks which feed into the river
did heavy damage to tobacco and
corn crops IN the Alta Vista area.
Roads were flooded in 4 number
OF places in Nelson, Amherst and
Albemarle Counties.
Charlottesville had one Of its
heaviest rains in years, with water
entering the University Of Virginia
gymnasium and the basement Of the
Charlottesville Woolen Mills. Gel
lars Of number Of homes and busi-
ness places were flooded. Funerals
scheduled for yesterday afternoon
were postponed.