Pembroke residents among Southwest Virginians with harrowing stories from flooding

Saturday morning as the New River swelled with rain waters dumped in the wake of Hurricane Helene, longtime Pembroke riverfront homeowner Tim Myers knew it was worse than anything he’d imagined. “I stayed ’til 1:30 a.m. Saturday. It was ankle-deep. I had to leave,” Myers said.

The historic flooding sent water and debris up the banks of Cliff View Drive in Pembroke, a Giles County town of just over 1,100 people. When the flooding finally stopped, displaced residents like Myers came back to assess the damage.

“When you say 13 feet, it’s halfway up my bank. Fifteen feet is at the back of my basement door, and 20 feet puts it up near my door,” said Myers. “But this one flooded just below our countertop.”

The river’s flood stage in Radford is 14 feet, but this time it crested at 31 feet. That’s the second-highest level ever recorded, beaten only by the Great Flood of 1940.

Myers knows that rebuilding after the storm is likely to be as daunting as the storm itself. “I’m overwhelmed, I don’t know if there’s recovery,” Myers said, holding back tears. He owns three homes on Cliff View Drive, and rents out two of them. All three were inundated.

[Read more about the scale of the storm’s impact: Storm cleanup continues across Southwest Virginia, as magnitude of devastation becomes clearer .]

His neighbor Toma Eaton received her bad news by text from a relative: “I hate to tell you this, but nothing made it at your place. It broke loose just before daylight. Every house down here is underwater and the road too,” it read.

Her trailer home, which was a vacation property, barreled up the river; she still doesn’t know where it ended up. Sunday, she drove from her permanent residence in Pembroke to assess the damage. She doubts she’ll replace the vacation home. “If I put anything back it would be a camper that I could pull out of here,” she said.

Sunday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin toured flood-devastated communities throughout Southwest Virginia, making stops in Giles, Grayson, Wythe and Pulaski counties. He visited the Washington County town of Damascus on Saturday.

In the town of Narrows, just west of Pembroke, the governor spoke with dozens of residents who lost their homes to the floodwaters. “It’s heart-wrenching,” he said. “First we all have to recognize the power of Mother Nature, the water is overwhelmingly powerful and homes have been moved off their foundations, dragged through and into the rivers and used as battering rams, taking down bridges.”

According to Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, communities like Narrows and Pembroke could be ignored because the federal government often looks at rainfall amounts when considering aid. The homes in communities along the New River were inundated with rainfall, but worse was the flooding that came from a neighboring state. “The New River is one of the few rivers that flows north, and so all the water that hit North Carolina, it all ends up right there in the New River,” said Griffith, who toured alongside the governor on Sunday.

It’s important for residents to document the damage and report it to the county. “That affects the decision that FEMA [the Federal Emergency Management Agency] will make as to whether or not the county gets any aid,” he said.

Pembroke homeowner Sandy Collins is one of those residents. The water came up to the bottom of his raised home, but still soaked the insulation and electrical system. “It didn’t get inside, I was lucky,” he said. He was awakened and relocated by his son at 2:30 a.m. Saturday. The two saw trailers float by, and even had a camper float up and stop just outside their home.

The state is working to get communications and electricity restored to everyone and is offering help with housing. “They can get a warm room, a hot meal, clothes, a shower,” Youngkin said. He urged anyone in need to call 211, a helpline connecting residents to services and other assistance.

But in the immediate hours following the devastation, it was neighbor helping neighbor. Friends helped pull out soaked furniture and drywall. Churches dropped off food and water. “We felt like this would be more of a service than having church,” said Pastor Doug Duncan, whose Pearisburg Church of God congregation collected donations and made sandwiches to pass out to those working. “Can we help and feed you while you’re cleaning up, just to let you know we’re here to help?” he asked.

“We need cleanup, we need dumpsters, manpower. Anything we can get, we need,” said Myers. He’s stripping out everything, getting his house down to bare bones, bringing in dehumidifiers and fans to dry out.

“It’s heart-wrenching to see the damage, but it is inspiring to see Virginians go to work,” Youngkin said.

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