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Stormy Weather: Heavy rain and wind claim 2 lives in North Carolina and 3 in Virginia
Journal Photo by Walt Unks
Jessica Plater (right) and her mother, Josephine, return to Plater’s house to retrieve belongings. Plater was at home with her three children when the two oaks fell.
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Published: November 13, 2009
Relentless rain drenched much of the Atlantic seaboard yesterday, pelting communities from North Carolina northward with gusty winds and heavy rains and inundating streets, stranding drivers and causing two deaths in North Carolina and three deaths in Virginia.
Terra Lyn Swinney, 28, of Madison was killed by a falling tree as she drove her car on Witty Road, about 20 miles west of Reidsville, the N.C. Highway Patrol reported.
An elderly Mooresville man standing in his yard also was killed Wednesday when a pine tree was snapped off by strong winds and fell on him, said Assistant Chief Curt Deaton of the Mooresville Fire Department. The man, whose name was not released, was standing near his car.
In Northwest North Carolina and the Triad, rainfall totals for yesterday ranged from trace amounts in Boone, to nearly 2 inches in Danbury and 1.69 inches at Piedmont Triad International Airport, according to the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Va., and Raleigh.
The airport has received 4.85 inches of rain since Ida came ashore in Alabama on Tuesday, the weather service said.
The Dan River overran its banks in Rockingham County and in Danville, Va., the weather service said. No injuries have been reported.
Ralph VanEaton of Winston Salem had a close call. He was cooking food in his home on Harrison Avenue about 11 p.m. Wednesday when two large oak trees fell, narrowly missing a house on his block.
"I heard a boom-boom-boom-boom," he said. "That's when the power went out."
The trees also narrowly missed Jessica Plater's house in the 1700 block of Harrison Avenue.
"We were blessed that it didn't hit the house," said Plater, who lives with her three children, Jaquan, 6, Janiajah, 3, and Jaziya, 5 months.
"All I could think about was my children," she said. The kids slept through the incident.
Winston-Salem police reported of minor flooding and some reports of downed trees throughout the city. Authorities also said that many wrecks without serious injuries occurred on the city's streets and on roads and highways in the region.
Duke Energy Corp. reported 76 power outages in Forsyth County shortly after 7 a.m.
Guilford County had more than 700 outages, and Mecklenburg County had more than 11,000.
The weather also churned up the Atlantic Ocean. Two people on a disabled sailboat off the North Carolina coast were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter crew, while two others were towed to shore with the boat.
In Virginia, Gov. Tim Kaine declared a state of emergency and officials urged people in some areas to stay home. Rain and floods were predicted to continue at least through Friday, especially along the state's southeastern coast.
Some motorists were rescued from their cars after getting stuck in high water, said Bob Spieldenner, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
Three motorists died in weather-related crashes in central and eastern Virginia, said a spokeswoman for the Virginia State Police. Their names were not released.
In western Virginia, officials reported flooded streets and some people being pulled out of low-lying areas. The Roanoke River also was expected to flood Thursday.
Dominion Power reported more than 32,400 customers without electricity in Virginia and North Carolina, with more than 26,850 of them in southeast Virginia.
In South Carolina, state health officials blamed the heavy rains for overwhelming sewage plants in the Columbia area, dumping some raw sewage into three rivers.
pgarber@wsjournal.com
727-7327
jhinton@wsjournal.com
727-7299
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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