The 1985 Election Day floods

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1985 Election Day floods

Date November 1985
Location Mid-Atlantic States (particularly West Virginia and Virginia)
Deaths 62 total
Property damage $1.4 billion (1985 USD)

The 1985 Election Day floods — also known as the Killer Floods of 1985 in West Virginia — produced the costliest floods in both West Virginia and Virginia in November 1985. The event occurred after Hurricane Juan, a tropical cyclone in the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season, meandered near the coast of Louisiana before striking just west of Pensacola, Florida late on October 31. Juan moved northward into Canada, but spawned another system that spread moderate rainfall across the Mid-Atlantic States, wetting soils. On November 3, a low pressure area developed south of Florida and moved northeastward along a cold front, bringing a plume of moisture influenced by Juan's previous track. The storm moved through the southeastern United States, stalling on November 5 west of Washington, D.C. before turning out to sea the next day. The event was known as the Election Day floods due to its concurrence with elections in Virginia.
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Impact



Rainfall map for the storm in the eastern United States
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Virginia

The high rainfall caused many rivers to rise above their banks across Virginia, becoming among the top three highest crests on record along several rivers in the state. The flood set the highest river stage on record along the Roanoke River at Roanoke, Tinker Creek near Daleville, the Calfpasture River at Goshen, the Craig Creek at Parr, and the James River at Buchanan, Holcomb Rock, and Bent Creek. At Holcomb Rock, the James River crested at 42.15 ft (12.85 m), the highest in the state, and was about 20 ft (6.1 m) above flood stage; based on the observations and the associated discharge, the return period was estimated as greater than a 1 in 500 year event. River gauges recorded record discharge rates at 34 stations, of which 32 were 100 year events. The rains delayed crops from being planted across the state and caused minor crop damage. Across the state, about 3,500 houses were destroyed. Overall, the storm system caused 22 deaths and $753 million, greater than the devastating hurricanes Camille and Agnes, and making it the costliest flood in the state's history.

I was living in Charlottesville at the time. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway connects the coal fields in West Virginia to Hampton Roads, Virginia. The railway comes into Virginia from White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, as a two-track line along one alignment. At Clifton Forge, Virginia, the line splits up. One line goes down the James River to Richmond, Virginia. That's the line that carried the majority of the coal traffic. The other line goes over North Mountain, Virginia, and through Staunton and Charlottesville. The floods wiped out the James River line. That meant that the C&O had to reroute its coal traffic through Charlottesville. The trains were as long as the sidings could handle -- 160 cars. They would get 7 or maybe 8 locomotives on the front.

At first there was mayhem, but the C&O dispatchers soon figured out a rhythm. Charlottesville's train enthusiasts would hang around the Amtrak station. Every hour, a train of empties would head west. An hour later, a train of loaded hoppers would clatter across the diamond. Another hour, another train of westbound empties. Another hour, another train of eastbound loads. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The flooding in Pennsylvania is what finally took out the telegraph line along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Connellsville, Pennsylvania, and Cumberland, Maryland.

And that's what I was doing 33 years ago.

The C&O goes right through the middle of this. This is where they had an oil train derailment a few years back:

The B&O runs along Wills Creek from the east portal of Sand Patch Tunnel in Pennsylvania to Cumberland, Maryland. Wills Creek enters the Potomac River at Cumberland.

What it's like without the flood: