Rain, rain go away
Lynchburg receives surplus of rain after experiencing a minor drought
Bundled in raincoats with umbrellas in hand, students braced for Hurricane Joaquin that was predicted to hit the East Coast last weekend. Though Lynchburg was spared that natural disaster, earlier heavy and sustained rains ripped through Lynchburg and the central Virginia area causing widespread flooding and dangerous conditions.
Drenched — Students needed to use their umbrellas and rain boots to stay dry from the rainstorms that hit Lynchburg last week. Photo credit: Leah Seavers
From Friday, Sept. 25 to Tuesday, Sept. 29, Lynchburg received a total of 5.54 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service.
George Flickinger, the chief meteorologist at WSET-TV, said September has been the wettest month since November 2009. From Sept. 1, 2015 to Sept. 30, Lynchburg received a total of 7.13 inches of rain. Flickinger said the city was in a minor drought for 2015 before the recent storms, but now Lynchburg has surpassed the needed amount of rainfall.
During the morning and afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 29, heavy rainfall in a short period of time caused major problems on the campus of Liberty University. Scott Starnes, the vice president of field operations at Liberty, said the university was on alert and monitoring potential areas of concern. The university addressed the problems as it was notified of them.
“Tuesday at the school of education entrance … the ground was so saturated that we had water starting to work into the front entrance,” Starnes said. “Also, on the back of DeMoss (Hall) where they are building the new student center, we had water working through the construction zone into Sub Connection.”
Starnes added that the Science Hall also took on some water because the ground was so saturated. In addition, Starnes said there was a minor washout on Regent’s Parkway that was addressed immediately, and indoors, there were a few minor roof leaks.
Due to water flooding into the school of education, Starnes said a handful of classes had to be canceled while the flooding issue was being addressed.
Starnes said that because students would miss valuable class time, the goal was to not cancel classes, but with water in the building it was necessary.
“Our number one priority here on campus is the well-being of the students,” Starnes said.
Starnes said approximately 100 people worked to repair the damages to the university Sept. 30.
On Oct. 1, the potential for Hurricane Joaquin to come ashore in the mid-Atlantic region caused local crews to continue to prepare for more potential flooding.
However, as the week progressed, weather models confirmed that Joaquin would stay offshore, diminishing the amount of additional rain predicted for the area.
According to Starnes, university workers prepared for more rain Friday, Oct. 2 through Monday, Oct. 5.
“It was a big team effort,” Starnes said. “We (monitored) the lake levels. … We (had) a team inspecting potential problem areas. Sandbags were added in some problem locations, one being the school of education. In some of the construction sites, because they are not developed at this time, we added trenching to help divert the water away from the building.”
Teams also checked the drainage systems to ensure there was no blockage.
In the Lynchburg area, Paula Jones, communications manager for the Lynchburg District of the Virginia Department of Transportation, said the city prepared the best it could for the
sustained rains.
“We (met) with other industry representatives as well as the Virginia State Police, other government agencies, including public safety,” Jones said. “We typically have these (meetings) associated with winter storms, but we’ve also had them associated with other storms. … We are doing that, and we are preparing.”
Jones also acknowledged the danger of flooding in the Lynchburg area, saying to avoid low-lying areas if possible.
Nick Fillo, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, also warned citizens about the hazard of flooding.
“Flooding is obviously dangerous because the water will flow very quickly, and even the best swimmers in the world can’t fight the current when water flows very quickly,” Fillo said.
“The water is very also very murky … (and) … very hard to see, so if somebody goes under it’s next to impossible to find them.”
When there is potential for heavy and prolonged rains, Flickinger said it is essential for the public to get their weather information from meteorologists who are qualified to
predict the weather.
“Don’t rely on social media meteorologists,” Flickinger, who has 20 years of meteorology experience in Virginia, said.
Though the large amount of rain from Hurricane Joaquin missed the Lynchburg area, earlier rainstorms did some damage to Liberty’s campus. However, Starnes recognized how much worse the storms could have been.
“God’s blessing was with us, but also our team was prepared,” Starnes said.
Rodriguez is the news editor.