Capital under water

last updated 8 January 2015

Richmond, Va.

Virginia Gov. Mark Warner declared a state of emergency this week after his state was drenched by three tropical storms in a single month. Flooding from Tropical Storm Gaston killed five people; scuba divers pulled one body from a submerged Toyota Avalon. Water up to 10 feet deep rushed through Richmond, picking up cars and trucks and slamming them into buildings. “All of our cars have floated away,” said Nick Baughan, who was stranded on the second floor of a pizza restaurant. Gaston, Hurricane Charley, and the remnants of Hurricane Bonnie all hit the region in August, dumping a record amount of summer rain on Virginia. As the Gaston cleanup began, another storm, Hurricane Frances, was barreling north toward the southern U.S.