GILES COUNTY, Va. – When living along the creek, you may expect it to flood every so often, but that doesn’t mean it gets any easier when it does.
“Being on the creek like that, it’s just something that you have to get used to,” said Michael Long, a Giles resident. “Expect the floodings and so forth and try to keep an eye on it.”
Michael Long has owned property by Wolf Creek in Giles County since 2012. At what is normally his summer home, he said it floods here almost every year, but this past weekend was the worst he’s seen.
“It went above the gate and through and it just covers everything when it does,” Long said.
Normally on his property, it’s a slice of heaven in the mountains. But when the water rises, he has to reset everything.
“When this goes down, you’ll see all kinds of debris-junk stuff everywhere,” Long said.
Now, he said he’s just waiting for the creek to subside back to normal for everything to dry up so he can start his work.
“A lot of work come springtime,” Long said with a laugh.
In other parts of the county, the damage was much of the same.
Giles County Emergency Manager Jon Butler said throughout the weekend there were road closures and flooding in all parts of the county.
“We had a lot of damage to roadways from landslides, mudslides, trees down,” said Jon Butler, Giles County emergency manager. “This one was pretty widespread. It’s hard to fathom how much water that actually was.”
He said now the rivers and creeks have started to subside, and it’s time to assess the total damage and prepare for more potential winter weather.
He expects it will take some time to get everything back to normal.
