The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Warning for the Roanoke River through the Roanoke Valley. Forecasters expect the river the reach its high point slightly above major flood stage by early Thursday morning and remain above flood stage through Friday evening. The weather service says it will result in road closures, and some buildings might be affected.
FROM THE NWS BLACKSBURG: Flood warning for Roanoke River At Roanoke affecting City of Roanoke, City of Salem
and Roanoke Counties
The forecast for the Roanoke River at Roanoke has been revised upward with a flood crest now expected slightly above the current Major flood stage of 16 feet. This is about as high as the river got in October, 2018 with Hurricane Michael. This forecast is based on rainfall of 2 to 5 inches that has already occurred and forecast rainfall across the basin of 2 to 4 inches in about the next 24 hours.
* Roads close to the river will be flooded and several structures may be affected.
* Flood history…this crest compares to a previous crest of 16.6 feet on Oct 11 2018 during Hurricane Michael.
The National Weather Service in Blacksburg has issued a a seperate Flood Warning for:
Roanoke County, Pulaski County, The City of Radford, The City of Salem, Floyd County , The City of Roanoke, Carroll County,
Western Henry County, The City of Galax, Western Franklin County, Patrick County and Montgomery County.
Until 3:15 AM EDT Thursday.
At 3:20 PM EDT, several agencies reported flooding of creeks and streams along with road closures across the area today. Even though some of the flooding has receded this afternoon, another band of moderate to heavy rain will move over the area tonight. Additional rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches is possible tonight.
Turn around, don`t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles.
