Flood in Grayson County, Virginia

The New River near Galax (GAXV2) crested at 21.26 feet (108,000 cfs) at 10:15 PM EDT on Sept. 27th (28/0215 UTC) due to heavy rain associated with Tropical Cyclone Helene. This is the second highest crest in the history of this gage, only behind the flooding event of August 1940. This crest rates between a 100-year Average Recurrence Interval (ARI)(1% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP)) and a 200-year ARI (0.5% AEP) per USGS StreamStats. The flooding was the result of between 10 and locally 20 inches of rain that fell across the upper New River basin between the 25th and 27th, with totals ranging anywhere from between a 200-year and more than a 1,000-year ARI per NOAA Atlas 14 Point Precipitation Frequency estimates. Extensive flooding occurred along several roads along the banks of the river, including Grinders Mill Road, Riverview Lane, Riverside Drive, Pleasant Grove Road, Little River Road, Old River Lane, Riverwood Lane, Pattons Mill Lane, Greenville Road, and Gold Hill Road. In some cases, the roads were simply flooded, cutting off access to residents living along the roads. Some of the homes had water enter the properties, destroying and/or carrying away personal equipment and buildings.

Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a powerful Category 4 hurricane late Thursday, September 26, and moved quickly northward into the southeastern states, and then turned slightly northwestward towards the southern Appalachian Mountains overnight into Friday morning, weakening as it moved over land. Helene's intensity and fast forward motion led to impacts being felt well inland, from the Florida Big Bend area into the Appalachians, almost only 12 hours after landfall, and there was extensive damage in southwest Virginia. Widespread cellular service and power outages, some lasting for several days, occurred as high winds downed thousands of trees across the region. Winds gusted as high as 55 mph to 65 mph in southwest Virginia. There were three confirmed tornadoes associated with the remnants of Hurricane Helene in the Piedmont of Virginia. Flooding impacts from Hurricane Helene were extensive across the area, and were exacerbated by a predecessor rainfall event that occurred a day before Helene reached the region, which brought six to eight inches of rain to the mountains prior to the arrival of the remnants of Helene. The three day rainfall totals associated with the remnants of Hurricane Helene were highest Grayson and Smyth Counties, where observations of 10 to locally 15 inches of rain were recorded. The Piedmont of Virginia received much less rain, between one and two inches, with a couple areas around three inches. Total economic losses for Virginia, which include Virginia's agriculture, forestry, and other industries, are expected to range between $416 million and $630 million per an economic analysis released by Virginia Tech researchers.