Flash Flood in Charlotte County, Virginia

Charlotte County was included in a Presidential Major Disaster declaration due mainly to the severe flooding associated with Tropical Storm Michael. There was widespread flash flooding across the county with numerous roads closed and damaged. Two people lost their lives after being swept off a bridge into floodwaters. The fatalities occurred after a car stranded on a Mt. Harmony Road bridge around 728 PM local Thursday. The Charlotte County Sheriff's office stated that the vehicle originally had three occupants who were said to be clinging to the bridge railings. A 17-year-old male was able to be rescued, while the two other adults, one male the other female were swept away in the flood waters.

Hurricane Michael made landfall along the Florida panhandle as major hurricane (Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson scale) on Wednesday afternoon, October 10th, 2018, then tracked northeastward with the northern portion of the storm circulation tracking across portions of Southside, Virginia Thursday afternoon, the 11th. A deep flow of tropical moisture into the Appalachians and central mid Atlantic region ahead of the storm began to generate excessive rainfall across portions of the region as early as Wednesday evening, mainly along the Interstate 77 corridor, causing some degree of flash flooding and otherwise saturating the ground even before the arrival of the rainfall directly associated with Michael.

As the storm circulation approached on Thursday, a cold front moving in from the west and interacted with the storm and enhanced rainfall especially east of Interstate 81. Widespread rainfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches were reported, along with local amounts over 10 inches, mainly from the mountains of North Carolina up through Southside Virginia. This resulted in significant flash flooding with flash flood emergencies issued for the city of Roanoke, as well as Roanoke County, and southern Pittsylvania county including the city of Danville. Unfortunately, there were five fatalities as vehicles were swept away by flash flood waters in Pittsylvania County, Danville, and Charlotte County, Virginia.

The massive volume of water also then generated rapid rises on rivers including the New, Roanoke, and Dan. Major flooding was reported at several river gage locations along with a couple of record crests. There were a few landslides reported as well, blocking roads and in one case destroying a shed.

In addition, as the northern portion of the storm circulation moved across the Piedmont, bands of heavier rains/convection developed and mixed strong winds down to the surface. Many trees were blown down in the water logged soil especially across Pittsylvania, Halifax and Charlotte counties of Virginia where rainfall was heaviest. Despite some initial reports of tornado sightings, damage surveys revealed no conclusive evidence of tornadic circulations and judged damage was caused by straight line winds.