Severe flooding along the New River and other waterways has caused residents to evacuate across Virginia in Washington, Wythe, Russell County, Pulaski, Giles, Montgomery, and Augusta Counties, according to a statement Saturday from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
At this time, officials don’t have an estimate of the number of people who have evacuated, or structures that have been damaged due to flooding.
Many of the affected communities are located near the New River, which has its headwaters in North Carolina. In Radford, the New River reached a level of 31 feet Saturday morning, which was about four feet higher than originally predicted. Record level is 36 feet, during a flood in 1940. A local animal shelter in Radford evacuated nearly 70 animals Friday…