Forecasters expected 4 inches of rain, but some areas near Richmond get as much as 14. At least five people are dead.
By Associated Press
Published September 1, 2004
RICHMOND, Va. - Flooding touched off by the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston left at least five people dead in Virginia on Tuesday and devastated a historic Richmond neighborhood that was the heart of the Confederate capital during the Civil War.
In the city's hard-hit Shockoe Bottom district, dozens of cars that had been carried off by the raging floodwaters were strewn about the streets, which were caked with mud and scattered with bricks and other debris. Numerous businesses and apartments were flooded. A produce truck lay overturned. A brick building had collapsed onto several vehicles.
Residents and city officials described a scene of terror as floodwaters fed by a foot of rain swept through the low-lying area on Monday, reaching depths of up to 10 feet. Rescue crews helped lift passengers through the windows of a marooned bus, and panicked motorists raced to escape their cars as the floodwaters engulfed them.
City officials closed off 20 blocks of the Shockoe Bottom district - or about half of the historic area - near the James River, declaring them off limits until the buildings can be inspected to make sure they are safe.
Officials said that the damage would easily be in the millions of dollars but that it was too early to provide an estimate.
"The devastation to a lot of the businesses in Shockoe Bottom is overwhelming," said Gov. Mark Warner, who walked through the muddy streets. He said he would ask Washington to declare a state of emergency, making residents eligible for federal aid.
The storm surprised meteorologists, who had forecast no more than 4 inches of rain. But the system parked itself over the Richmond area for several hours. Northeast of the city, rural King William County received 14 inches, the National Weather Service said.
"This truly was an act of God," the governor said.
Most of the buildings in the low-lying district are two- and three-story brick structures, primarily warehouses and other commercial buildings converted to restaurants, nightclubs and loft apartments. A few buildings date from before the Civil War.
In the 19th century, the Shockoe Bottom district was a thriving industrial center of tobacco warehouses and factories, mostly reduced to smoldering ruins after the city fell to Union troops in 1865. Abraham Lincoln walked through and surveyed the damage.
On Monday, rushing water swept away cars and trucks and smashed them into buildings.
Luissa Alba, who was rescued from her apartment building by boat, said she saw a person trying to escape the rising floodwaters by clinging to a railroad trestle. A woman holding a child in each arm stood on top of her car, screaming for help, she said.
Alba, a 28-year-old graduate student, said for some reason, she could not reach a 911 emergency dispatcher on her cell phone.
"It was ridiculous," she said. "We basically had to call friends who called 911 for us."
At least five people died in the storm. Two died in a creek in Richmond. In nearby Chesterfield County, rescuers pulled a woman's body from a submerged car Tuesday. Two deaths occurred in Hanover County north of the city.
About 51,000 customers of Dominion Virginia Power had no electricity Tuesday, mostly in the Richmond area. A brick substation that fed the Shockoe Bottom area disintegrated, and utility officials did not know when they would be able to return power to the district's estimated 13,600 homes and businesses.
