Helene update: 1 dead, 177,000-plus without power in Southwest Va.; New River to crest at 27 feet (2024)

Heavy rain and high winds from Tropical Storm Helene caused flooding and downed trees across Southwest Virginia, leaving one person in Craig County dead and thousands of Appalachian Power Co. customers without electricity.

The New River in Radford was expected to have its second-highest ever recorded crest late Saturday, reaching a predicted 27 feet, enough to flood low lying areas below Radford University.

In Craig County, a woman was found dead by emergency officials who responded to a 911 call for help at a residence on Cumberland Gap Road (Virginia 42), according to Director of Emergency Management Darryl Humphreys.

Humphreys and a Craig County sheriff’s deputy answered the 9:45 a.m. call, finding a chicken coop blown over by high winds. Thinking the caller may have been trapped beneath, they lifted the structure but did not find her, Humphreys said. Instead, they found her body in a different location, but Humphreys did not release further details, including the identity of the deceased. The sheriff’s deputy was injured during the incident by flying debris and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Much of Southwest Virginia was under flash flood warnings Friday, and some were under a tornado watch, both of which were due to expire by evening. A flood warning for the New River continued into the night.

Appalachian Power, which serves more than 1 million customers in Southwest Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee, reported at 5 p.m. Friday that about 177,000 Virginia customers were without service.

“Crews are working to assess damages in areas where it can be done safely,” the company said in a news release. “Early reports show that damage is widespread, with more than 2,700 outages reported in all three states.”

Power restoration work is expected to go into Sunday, the release continued, with some areas getting their service restored before then. While more than 1,000 employees and contractors were dedicated Friday to storm restoration work, continued rain and gusty winds posed were expected to delay their efforts.

“Depending on the storm’s impact, restoration times may extend beyond Sunday,” the release read. “Mutual assistance crews from Ohio, Indiana and Michigan are either in our service territory now or headed this way. Crews from Oklahoma and Texas are expected to arrive tomorrow.”

Roanoke responders busy

The Roanoke Fire-EMS Department reported many downed trees and power lines in the city.

At about 12:30 p.m., the fire department reports, crews were called the 4300 block of Van Winkle Road Southwest for a downed tree that had damaged a residence. There were no injuries reported.

Roanoke Fire-EMS late Friday afternoon issued a statement urging residents to stay indoors and to avoid unnecessary travel due to numerous road closings and downed power lines.

River levels rising

With waters 9.4 feet deep, the Roanoke River approached minor flood stage Friday, according to USGS measurements at 2 p.m. It’s the highest level the river has been in at least a year, charts show.

Forecasts said the river could peak at nearly 11 feet by late Friday. Minor flood stage on Roanoke River is considered 10 feet, while moderate is 12 feet and major flooding is 16 feet.

The situation is more serious along the New River. Flood stage is 14 feet and the river already had reached 18 feet at midday Friday in Radford. The New River is expected to crest at 27 feet Saturday evening in Radford. That would be the highest the river has reached in Radford since November 1977, when it reached 24.1 feet, and below the historic recorded high of 35.96 feet in August 1940. The flood warning includes other riverside communities such as Galax, Allisonia, Glen Lyn and Hinton, West Virginia.

Tornado warnings

There were a handful of tornado warnings in the Roanoke Valley late Thursday and Friday afternoon. Around 11 p.m., the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning to Roanoke, southeastern Roanoke County and north central Franklin County.

“At 10:48 p.m. EDT, a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Wirtz, or near Rocky Mount, moving northwest at 25 mph,” an alert read. “TAKE COVER NOW!”

But Anita Silverman, a NWS Blacksburg meteorologist, said Friday morning that there had been no reports of tornado damage.

“We are not heard of any specific damage from any kind of tornado,” Silverman said. “We will be looking into that over the next few days, but right now the higher priority is the ongoing weather.”

Staff writer Luke Weir contributed to this report.