Buchanan County residents cope with aftermath of flooding damage

BUCHANAN COUNTY, Va. – Residents are trying to save what’s left of some of their homes and property as flash floods wash away their community.

Throughout the day Thursday, many people were cleaning up their houses from water and mud tracked along the inside.

However, some residents were a lot less fortunate than others as homes were completely torn away from their foundations.

Regina Whitt remembered watching her daughter’s house rip from the ground and float down the street.

“The water came up so fast until it floated their house from up here and this is all that’s left,” Whitt said.

One of the walls was completely torn away and the house is now sitting 200 hundred yards away from its original place.

Whitt copes with what she lost but remembers what’s still left.

“This was my grandsons’ bedrooms. What used to be their bedrooms. And if they had been in it, they would have been gone. They would have been washed off,” Whitt said.

We met another resident, Buddy Fuller, driving around and looking at a place he calls home ... in pieces.

“It’s terrible. It’s heartbreaking man. I mean to see people I’ve raised up with in this kind of shape,” Fuller said.

Fuller also recounted the night of the storm – He prayed he could make it out alive.

“It was scary. I’ve never been like that before. What we were on ... what basically amounted to, I was on an island. Just me and my wife,” Fuller said.

While search and rescue teams were able to safely find the 44 people unaccounted for as of Wednesday afternoon, residents in the county are relying on each other to get through it.

“You’re seeing people help one another here. That’s what they’ve always done. Ever since I’ve lived here. People always help one another,” Fuller said.

Now the community is focused on the rebuild.

Regina Whitt is having her daughter and family stay with her until they can find a new home.

“We’ll make it but it’s hard to see your daughter lose everything,” Whitt said. “We’ll try to salvage what little we can out of the house and go from there...try to rebuild...as long as everyone’s alright, we’ll be alright.”