Nelson County Hurricane Camille Flood Virtual Cache
Nelson County Hurricane Camille Flood
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(virtual)
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Memorial commemorating Hurricane Camille's flooding of Nelson County, Virginia, located at Tye River Park (which is not much more than a pull-off by the side of the roadway).
Hurricane Camille was only one of two Category 5 hurricanes to hit the United States in modern times (the other was the Labor Day storm which devastated the Florida Keys in 1935). As Camille raced northward along the eastern United States, she was downgraded to a tropical storm, but when she reached Nelson County, Virginia, on August 19, 1969, she encountered moisture-laden air. Overnight, Camille dumped 31 inches of rain on Nelson County in just six hours, 27 inches of which fell in just three hours. Though total rainfall figures could not be accurately made due to rain guages overflowing, this is apparently the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in modern times in the United States. The amount of water which fell on Nelson County overnight was the equivalent of what the James River deposits into the Chesapeake Bay over a six month period (roughly 1.2 trillion gallons).
Mountainous areas were swept clean of trees, brush, and mud, which washed into creeks and rivers creating false dams. When the water broke free of these dams, monstrous flash flooding ensued, and since the storm's track was unpredictable, little advance notice could be given of the severity of the storm. Since it hit overnight, most residents of Nelson County were in bed. The storm knocked out all communications in the county, leaving no means of spreading any warnings to the sleeping citizens. Uprooted trees acted as battering rams, smashing into houses where the residents slept. One family whose members had built houses along Davis Creek lost 21 family members and all of their homes were destroyed. One father fleeing the deluge carrying a small child had to turn the child upside down to prevent the child from drowning from the downpour. Many survivors described the rainfall as being like walking through a waterfall. Nelson County's Sheriff at the time said that he had to cover his mouth and nose with his hand, just to be able to breathe because the rainfall was so intense.
By the time the storm subsided in the early morning hours of August 20, 1969, entire communities in Nelson County had been destroyed and 121 people were dead. Bodies had to be plucked from trees along the banks of rivers and creeks. The mountains in Nelson County still bear the scars of the storm in the form of bald patches washed clear by the rainfall. The residents who survived the storm still look nervously outside during heavy rain. They bear their own emotional scars.
I decided to make this a virtual cache due to the fact that there are not many hiding places for a traditional physical cache at the location and the fact that its distance from my home would make it difficult to maintain (I only visit there about twice per year).
In order to claim credit for this cache, please upload a photo of you and your GPSr with the monument erected at the cache coordinates given (or just your GPSr, if you're alone and your arms aren't long enough). For those who do not have a digital camera, you may e-mail me the name of the person whose quotation appears at the bottom of the plaque on the monument. Please feel free to log your find at the time you e-mail, as no prior approval will be necessary. I may not have time to e-mail you back. If you choose to take a picture, make sure it doesn't include the e-mail credit information!
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