RICHLANDS, Va. -The weekend flooding hit Richlands hard, with entire streets shut down and some residents forced to evacuate their homes. Richlands Police Chief Ron Holt says, those who were forced to leave from the rising waters are just now starting to return and are seeing for the first time the damage done to their homes.
Chief Holt says the extent of the damage in Richlands is not yet known. However, he says in all of Tazewell County, Richlands may have been hit the hardest.
“So, just to put it in perspective… we addressed around 200 homes in Tazewell County that were directly impacted by flood waters and the storm. We have about 100 to 120 of those in the Town of Richlands alone. Some people lost everything they had, including food, basic essentials, and we’re just now beginning to scratch the surface on that and determine how impactful that’s going to be moving forward…” says Chief Holt.
This isn’t the first time Richlands has experienced flooding, but one resident cleaning out her home says it’s never flooded this badly before.
“This is the worst I’ve ever seen it… ever, and I’ve lived here since eighty-six…” says Maudie Jones, a Richlands resident, “…This is the first time it’s ever went in the house. Ever.”
The Joneses lives on one of the streets that got the worst of the flood, with the Clinch River next door overflowing its banks.
“…This time, it was over top of this bridge. It was at my house there. It was up to the bottom of the windows. It was two foot of water inside my house,” says Dwight Jones.
Many residents were forced by the flood to evacuate Saturday night, with a swift water rescue team needed to get everyone to safety.
“Our neighbor… beside of us, is seventy-some years old, and he didn’t want to leave, held on to his recliner and said, ‘I’m staying,’ and he held it out until 12:43 at night, and they rescued him. It was… nothing, no clothes, no nothing, they had to get him out,” recalls Elijah, who also lives on that same street.
Now that the flooding has abated, residents are surveying the destruction. There’s water damage inside and out, including at Elijah’s house where a shed was left supporting the porch it smashed into.
“…You just shake your head when you look at it. Every house… you go down that street… there’s belongings out in the street. My wife’s cried for four days straight…” says Elijah.
Residents are now left to replace and rebuild, but it could have been worse, with some of those we spoke to saying they are just grateful to be walking away with their lives.
Chief Holt says residents who were displaced by the flood waters need to let the County know by filling out a damage assessment survey. You can find the form for that on the Tazewell County Facebook page.
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