Rain to slow down today; one local death tied to weather

The area’s heaviest three-day rain event of the year should abate today after causing closed roads, downed trees, cresting rivers and at least one fatality.

The weather is blamed in the death of an Amherst County man early Thursday on Virginia 56 in Nelson County — one of three weather-related fatalities statewide.

Alger H. Fleming, 66, died after he was hit by a tractor-trailer carrying logs.

Fleming was driving east on the winding road at 4:35 a.m. when his pickup truck struck a large tree that had fallen across the road near the Tye River Bridge, said State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.

Fleming put his hazard lights on and got out of his truck to survey the damage when an eastbound tractor-trailer came up behind his truck. The driver swerved into the westbound lane to avoid hitting the truck and struck Fleming, Geller said.

He died at the scene. No charges will be filed against the driver of the tractor-trailer.

Across the area, the downpours and their aftermath had the attention of police and other first-responders throughout the day on Thursday.

At 10 p.m., meteorologist William Perry, with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, put Lynchburg’s total rainfall since Tuesday at 4.68 inches.

In Lynchburg, officials were keeping an eye on the James River but they do not expect it to flood. The National Weather Service predicts the river will crest at 17.8 feet today, just below the action stage of 18 feet, which prompts emergency crews to take precautions to mitigate flood damage.

The river, however, is expected to crest just over four feet below flood stage.

Bill Aldrich, director of the city’s Emergency Communications Center, said Lynchburg fortunately did not bear the brunt of the storm.

“It’s mostly to the south and to the east of us,” he said. “There has been some localized flooding in low-lying spots and a couple of trees have lost their limbs, causing some electrical outages.”

The problems have been few and spread out, Aldrich said. Public works crews and city police officers have been check-ing spots that historically have had flooding problems, but often dispatchers rely on residents to report weather-related problems as they see them.

Authorities in Brookneal and Altavista, which both experienced some flooding from the Staunton River, said the flooding had not caused much of a problem on most area roads.

Officer Scott Earhart, with the Brookneal Police Department, said the river’s flooding was most evident at the town’s boat dock, off Radio Road.

The water was starting to submerge the parking lot at the dock, he said about 8:30 p.m.

“I’ve been here three years, and this is as high as I’ve ever seen it,” he said.

Earhart said, though, that the town itself sits so high, the river would have to experience a much higher amount of flooding to affect most residents.

Perry said that at 7 p.m., the river in Brookneal had risen to 27.4 feet, with a flood stage of 24 feet.

In Altavista, he said, the river had risen to 19.1 feet by 8 p.m. with a flood stage of 18 feet.

Sgt. J.T. Younger, with the Altavista Police Department, said there has been some flooding in the town, but not enough to cause serious problems.

Two roads were rerouted for floodwaters early in the morning, Younger said, but those had receded by 7 a.m.

Campbell County authorities are preparing in case conditions deteriorate overnight, said Capt. Cindy Caldwell. Four deputies have been placed on emergency standby and flooding may happen around Mount Athos and in southern Campbell County, she said.

Both Smith Mountain Lake and Leesville Lake have exceeded full pond. Appalachian Power spokesman John Shepelwich said the company estimates that based on National Weather Service predictions, Smith Mountain Lake could reach 798 feet today, exceeding the last rain-swollen level set in 2004.

The company is increasing discharge from the Leesville Dam into the Staunton River to make room to let some water out of Smith Mountain Lake.

“Rivers are indeed slowing their rise and if we can get Leesville Lake’s level down quickly, we could start taking down Smith Mountain Lake soon,” Shepelwich said Thursday afternoon.

The company will monitor downstream river levels and adjust discharge flow accordingly.

The large rainfall inevitably caused basements to flood across the area. Tom Rogers of Steamway Carpet and Upholstery, said Thursday that they have received numerous calls about flooded basements.

“I just left one who had almost eight inches of water in the basement,” he said. “A lot of people don’t have insurance coverage. We end up doing a lot of advising.

“When you are sucking up water and people are paying out of their pockets, they are not happy at all.”

Staff writer Dave Thompson and Erin McGrath, a staff writer with the Nelson County Times, contributed.