 Ahead of the main rainfall event, the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast office in Washington, D.C. issued a flood watch for southwestern Virginia, but canceled it early on November 4 after the heaviest rainfall was expected to continue to the northeast. Also that day, the NWS issued flood watches and warnings for portions of West Virginia. Later, special weather statements were issued in Virginia due to the continued rainfall. The Roanoke, Virginia NWS office lost telephone service shortly before the arrival of the flooding, which created difficulties in distributing warning information. Based on the rapid level increase of the Roanoke River, the Raleigh, North Carolina NWS issued a flash flood warning for Roanoke and its surrounding vicinity. The NWS also issued a river flood warning, initially anticipating a crest of 11 ft (3.4 m), and later increasing the estimate to 23 ft (7.0 m). In Virginia and Maryland along the western coast of the Chesapeake Bay, several low-lying and small coastal communities were evacuated. About 18,000 people were forced to evacuate in western Virginia due to river flooding. In West Virginia, residents relied on fire and civil defense sirens to receive warning about the floods, although some people in flood areas failed to receive any warning. Before the arrival of the floods, 23 of the 55 counties lacked updated disaster plans due to insufficient staff or funding, and as a result 29 counties' plans were rated "poor" or "very poor" by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
