Tony_Perkins's Blog

I was really surprised to hear you doubt Mother Nature's ability to dump 44 inches of rain in 24 hours considering it has virtually happened in our own back yard. More specifically, over the course of the evening of August 19-20, 1969, the remnants of then tropical storm Camille stalled over Nelson County Virginia unleasing an official total of 27 inches of rain in a 24 hour period although some estimates were as high as 37 inches in several areas of the county. Needless to say, the flash floods were devastating killing over 117 people in the tiny community. Here are a couple of their stories from NOAA's web site:
"August 19-20, 1969: Hurricane Camille made landfall on the Louisiana Coast and maintained hurricane strength for 150 miles up the Mississippi Valley. The storm turned east and headed for Virginia. It tapped into the warm moisture-rich air over the southern Gulf Stream and drew it northwest toward its center and toward the Virginia Mountains. Thunderstorms began to grow and it started raining. The storms formed a band with each thunderstorm following the one before it as they rose up the mountain slopes between Charlottesville and Lynchburg. An area 100 miles long and 25 miles wide received more than 10 inches of rain. In Nelson County, the storm total came to 27 inches and unofficial rain total was estimated at 31 inches! Rain from Camille produced the worst flash flood in Virginia's history. It was so devastating that 117 people died, all communications were cut off to the outside world and damages came to over half a billion dollars.

The following stori

A mother and child stayed in their home as it was torn from its foundation and floated over seven miles downstream. They were unharmed.

Dora Morris lived at the head of Davis Creek where its average depth is a few inches. In virtually continuous lightning, she estimated it had risen to a height of 50 feet. "The awfullest roar. It was a horrible sound. I suppose it was the landslides and the trees tumbling down the hollow, tearing at everything." She said it lasted four hours.

Curt Matthews smelled it coming. The scent of crushed pine pitch, amidst the roar of the mudslides, invisible in the storm, was what saved his life. At 1 a.m. "I had gone in to lay down for a while, and when I came back out on the porch, I smelled the unusual odor of bark and sap and green timber. I'm in the logging business and I know that smell, but I never in my life smelled it so heavy, even in a sawmill. The air was like sticking your head in a sack of bark. Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer and I went to wake up my wife and told her we had to get out. She didn't want to go and it took me 20 minutes to get her and the child ready. But in 20 minutes, the water rose from three to eight feet in my yard.... It must have been all these trees coming apart and washing down the hollow that I smelled. I guess I was one of the lucky ones." His home and land disappeared without a trace, but the family got out in time.

That was all pretty cool stuff Enoble but why didn't you just include it in it's own seperate post?