Roanoke, Virginia, suffered from further flash floods as a result of a series of rain storms across southwest Virginia. The region had suffered from similar floods a week earlier, which resulted in 2 fatalities.
During the afternoon of Wednesday 10th July, around 8cm of rain fell in a single hour – the wettest July day in Roanoke on record. Although the storms were seen across southwest Virginia, including Dublin and Radford, the worst affected area was northwest Roanoke. Rescue teams were needed to help people from cars and workplaces, and roads across the city were closed. As many as 19 children and 2 adults needed to be rescued from the Rainbow Christian Learning Center, who had been trapped there by the fast-rising flood waters. There were no injuries.
Two women were stranded in their vehicle in a flooded road. Flood waters had been rising rapidly and lifted the car on the undercurrent so that the women were unable to drive. Rescue teams managed to reach the two and pull them from their car.
Roanoke has endured the wettest July on record. Over 10 inches of rain has fallen in just the first 10 days of the month, overtaking the previous high of 1989. More rain is expected until the weekend which forecasters believe will bring drier weather.
