A look back: Residents got Camille facts from weekly newspaper

Editor’s note:This story originally appeared in the Aug. 21, 1969, edition of the Nelson County Times. Its headline, “45 Dead, 95 Missing in Flooded Nelson County,“ reflected the difficulty in locating the bodies of those were were killed in the flood.  Although it didn’t include a byline, this story was written by the late J.B. McDearmon, who, with his wife Louise, a native of Nelson County, published the Nelson County Times and Amherst New Era-Progress for many years in the mid-20th century.

At least 45 persons are known dead and more than double that number missing as a result of a flash flood that dealt Nelson County its worst tragedy in history early Wednesday morning.

Worst hit were the Massies Mill-Tyro area and the Davis Creek neighborhood north of Lovingston.

The devastating waters left hundreds homeless and caused millions of dollars worth of damage.

Rescue workers were flown by helicopters into the hardest hit areas to bring out the dead and homeless.

The Civil Defense Information Center, headed by the Rev. Vernon Lewis and J. Bernard McDearmon, officially listed the names of 45 bodies as being recovered. In addition, the CD office estimated that at least 95 persons are still missing from the Massies Mill and Davis Creek areas.

Officials were hoping that the eight dead persons listed as unidentified would be recognized by relatives and friends within several hours. But it was feared that at least two of the unidentifiable men were truck drivers from other areas whose vehicles were hit as they drove across the country.

Information Center officials estimated that it may be weeks — or months — before the bodies of some of the missing and presumed dead persons are recovered. Many are feared to have been buried in the sea of mud and debris that was left by the torrential waters. The officials say that some bodies may never be found.

A number of Massies Mill residents were saved only by clinging to trees until they were rescued by rescue workers in boats.

Two young sons of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Raines were taken from a tree where they were stranded for several hours after their parents, a brother and two sisters were swept away. The bodies of the brother, Sandy, and one of the sisters, Joanna, were recovered but the bodies of the parents and the youngest child, Ginger, 8, still had not been found late today (Friday).

In several instances entire families were wiped out by the raging torrents as the Tye, Rockfish and Piney Rivers overflowed their banks.

Travel was snarled to a standstill by washed out bridges and roads. The Southern Railway bridge at Tye River was twisted into a useless piece of steel and the tracks of Blue Ridge railway along the Tye River were torn up.

But, despite the tragedy, the cooperation and efforts of rescuers was a moving sight. Hundreds of volunteers poured into the county to give assistance. Food and clothing were brought in by the truckloads and airlifted to victims who were shut off from the outside.

Clifford E. Wood, vice chairman of the county board of supervisors, who is serving as coordinator of CD operations, was doing a magnificent job in directing the efforts of rescue groups. A “command post” was set up on the Lovingston Bypass and Wood and his co-workers directed rescue operations from there.

Workers of Appalachian Power Company, Central Virginia Electric Cooperative and C&P Telephone Company were on the job almost around the clock in an effort to restore power and phone service. Helicopters flew new phone cables into many areas to replace the lines washed away by the flood.

At Massies Mill only about ten homes were left intact but the foundations of several of those were washed away. Bowling’s Store was completely demolished and Lea’s Store — although still standing — was heavily damaged.

Sheriff William N. Whitehead was directing rescue efforts in the Massies Mill area with assistance from the Roseland Rescue Squad and other area squads.

Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Oliver of Massies Mill were among those rescued. Oliver said the he woke up “for some reason” about 3 a.m. Wednesday and heard the sound of the current. But when he swung his feet over the side of the bed, they touched down in water eight inches deep.

“We’d been having some trouble with the water system and I thought maybe a pipe had burst,” he said, “so I went to check it out. That’s when the house started moving.” Oliver’s wife Lois said she huddled their children — Jeffery Wayne, 3, and Regina, 3 months — on the bed while her husband fought to open the water-swollen attic door to pull them above the rising water.

“I just held them to me and the bed was floating and it got higher and higher and you could feel the house moving. The boards were cracking and popping and first the floor came apart in the kitchen and then it came apart in the bedroom. Then the bed hit the ceiling and the whole house came apart,” she tearfully described her experience.

She said she was washed into the water and couldn’t hold onto the children.

“I never saw them again,” she wept. “I can’t swim but it wouldn’t have done any good, anyway.”

She said she washed downstream as boards hit her as she grabbed for them.

“I finally came up on a piece of the house. I think it was the living room because there was a little piece of curtain on one of the boards and it made a kind of dam and I could stay there.”

Mrs. Oliver lay on a pile of wreckage while the river swept past her from about 4 a.m. for nearly seven hours.

“I hollered for help two or three times, but I never saw a soul,” she said.

Finally, a group of rescue workers spotted her and rigged a rope across the water and pulled her to safety at about 11 a.m. She was picked up about a mile from where her home was washed away.

Her husband ended up in a tree about a half-mile upstream but she did not know that he was alive until she reached the helicopter landing area. They were both flown to Lynchburg General Hospital where they were treated and released.

The body of their son Jeffery, 3, was recovered about a mile down stream late today (Friday). The infant girl is still missing.

One of the mysteries of the disaster was how the body of a 20-year-old Tyro girl ended up inside a church building. Neighbors said Linda Hope Staton, 20, was an outstanding young girl in Nelson County. She played in the high school band and was a drum majorette. The flood struck apparently as Linda and her family slept. But when the bodies of all three were recovered Thursday, Linda’s body was in the Tyro Presbyterian Church. How she got there is a mystery.

Ned Bowling, a 78-year-old carpenter of Massies Mill, today described how he escaped injury or death in the flood.

“I was asleep and about 2:30 in the morning I felt water creeping into my bed. I jumped out of bed and ran upstairs — the water never reached that height,” Bowling said. Hw was later rescued by a group of men in a boat.

This seemed to be true in many instances. As long as residents stayed in their places they were saved. When they left and tried to escape the raging waters it was apparently more

dangerous.

State police were working around the clock to divert traffic away from the flooded areas. Army, Navy, Marine and National Guard helicopters assisted in rescue operations and transportation of victims.

Rescue squads from all over Central Virginia were here to help. About 15 squads from the area joined in the effort. J. W. Carter, captain of the Amherst Rescue Squad, expressed appreciation to volunteers and for food donated to feed the rescuers who worked feverishly to get into areas, which were hardest hit.

In Amherst County the destruction was confined mostly to personal property. The old Campbell Mill — no longer in operation — was swept away by the torrential rains. So were many other houses and business firms in the area.

While traffic was snarled and many residents were unable to reach their jobs Wednesday and Thursday because of the flooding waters, Amherst County was reasonably calm compared with Nelson.

To the north, the Massies Mill area and the Davis Creek neighborhood of Nelson County were the hardest hit. Most of the damage in Amherst County was limited to roads, bridges and crops. Bur there was still heavy property damage. One of the hardest hit was W.O. Rucker’s Variety Store on Route 60 west of Amherst. A mountain slide threw tons of earth and debris into the rest of the store.

On Route 29 north of Amherst, the south approach to Buffalo Bridge washed away. At the same point, equipment of Lynchburg Ready Mix Concrete Company was heavily damaged. Three of five heavy mixer trucks were washed downstream.

There were reports of many heroic rescue efforts. One of them was performed by S. V. Wilkins, Jr., William Cash and an unidentified man who saved several lives in the Piney River plant area. Wilkins used a crane to save four members of a family just north of the Piney River Bridge and then brought to safety a man whose wife had been swept downstream. The woman — identified only as a Mrs. Blankenship — was rescued about a half-mile downstream.

The two counties were the scene of much rescue activity. Civilian Defense workers, headed by Russell M. Franks, set up an emergency hospital at Amherst County High Junior High School on Route 60. Volunteers assisted in caring for flood victims from both counties.