Claytor Lake remains closed while cleanup of storm debris continues

Days after her Claytor Lake getaway cabin in Allisonia was scraped from the earth and carried off in raging waters, Sharon Roberts couldn’t believe where it turned up.

That all-wood, one-room cabin was photographed and posted on Facebook, 20 miles up the waterway. “It literally went under the low-water bridge and still did not come apart,” she said. “It went through twists and turns intact and landed in Mallard Point.”

That wayward cabin is one of more than 240 properties along Claytor Lake in Pulaski County, damaged or destroyed by the remnants of Hurricane Helene.

The deluge of water sent homes and belongings to their watery graves, many coming to rest in the coves of Claytor Lake. “In some places, it looks like you can walk across the cove because it’s so compacted with woody debris — docks, decks, fence posts, trees and logs,” said Pulaski County Administrator Jonathan Sweet.

“We think this is maybe three years’ worth of cleanup from a volume standpoint,” said Sweet. “We won’t don’t have enough equipment or manpower to get this thing cleaned up in a reasonable amount of time.”

The debris field is massive, over 20 acres. Cleanup is underway, but the process is hampered by dangerous conditions. Propane tanks of all sizes are floating among woody debris.

Steve Rapp, president of Friends of Claytor Lake, said tanks are being taken to Claytor Lake State Park and burned off. Crews from Roanoke Fire/EMS and a hazardous materials team from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management are taking on the task. It’s something that the Federal Emergency Management Agency advised they do before anything else.

A private company that is a contractor for FEMA arrived in town Monday to help with cleanup.

In the meantime, Pulaski County has closed the lake, including all public boat docks. Even residents with private docks are prohibited from traversing the debris-filled water. “We understand they want to get out on the lake, but not only are there hazardous materials out there, there’s tons of wooded debris where you couldn’t get out there with a prop, without busting it up,” Rapp said.

After the hazardous materials are out, workers will remove the wooded debris. In a normal year, they’re done pulling it from the water by the end of November and start burning it by early December. It’s too cold after that. But Rapp said they will extend the cleanup this year. “We’re going to stay in that water as long as we can to get the wooded debris and then start back up in April, weather permitting,” he said.

Disaster headquarters is at Claytor Lake State Park. “We’re putting everything there from propane to refrigerators to freezers to all the hazardous waste materials,” Rapp said. They will salvage what they can. Owners will eventually be able to come down to the state park and claim their property.

Roberts said she hopes there’s something left to salvage. She’s noticed looters grabbing items from along the debris field before they can be claimed. Her cabin is slowly sinking, but her possessions are still visible.

Roberts acknowledges that she’s fared better than many. Her neighbors farther down on Clarks Ferry Road lost everything but their lives.

Wanda and Richard Fowler are both disabled. “We waded through water up to our waists with the dog swimming and I was carrying two cats and a backpack,” Wanda Fowler said. The couple scrambled to higher ground while water surged into their home of 12 years.

The Fowlers lost their double-wide trailer, clothes, furniture, food and their only vehicle. The home’s bladder tank and water pump were also ripped up and carried away. They had no flood insurance.

“The moisture is causing mold to ruin everything,” said Wanda Fowler. They’ve been couch surfing at other people’s homes ever since. “We just don’t know what to do,” she said. “We’ve just got to get our home back because this is all we’ve got.”

Property losses along Claytor Lake are estimated at over $20 million, although Sweet believes the actually tally will be closer to $35 million, since the survey considered assessed values, which can be lower than true values.

Pulaski County has finished assessments and is waiting for them to be finalized before they’re sent to FEMA. The Fowlers are also hopeful that FEMA can help. Right now, they’re relying on others to drive them to their property so they can clean up and be there while floors and walls are ripped out.

Meanwhile, Roberts is focusing on trying to find peace in the carnage, and she has discovered some through the eyes of her grandchildren.

“We have all this sand on the riverbank that we never had before, so they just laid in the sand and made sand piles and threw sand at each other,” she said. The boys also noticed a different view of the mountain that became visible after the river pushed over trees and brush. Prior to that, Roberts had focused heavily on the destruction.

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