Flood fatalities: How two people drowned in Waynesboro
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After their dads tested the water's depth and current, Charlie Manning and Blaze Prax brave an overflowed Dollins Creek on Plank Road near Batesville around 4:45pm Saturday.photo by Brad Manning -
The Rivanna River overflowed its banks onto the Rivanna Trail in Riverview Park as seen at 6:17am Sunday.photo by Perry Fitzhugh
There were reports of microburst damage in Free Union, but the Charlottesville side of the Blue Ridge escaped mortal carnage in the well-predicted flooding that canceled the Dogwood Festival Parade and closed several roads on Saturday, April 16. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Waynesboro.
On the east side of town, just a few hundred yards from the landmark Rockfish Gap Outfitters, disaster struck. It happened around 5:30pm, about an hour after 41-year-old Tina Marie Allen had allegedly telephoned the local newspaper to suggest a lively photograph of children having fun in the seemingly placid water.
But as Allen and two children attempted to walk across a culvert-style bridge carrying South Kirby Avenue over a waterway variously known as Rockfish Run and 10th Street Creek, the trio were swept off their feet.
Only one of them survived, Allen's 9-year-old son, Adrian, who was plucked from the water by an unknown samaritan. The mother and an 8-year-old, Lacy Elizabeth Taylor, were later found dead. The Waynesboro News-Virginian has the story of a fun outing turned deadly. A follow-up story in the News-Virginian identifies the samaritan as 44-year-old North Garden-area resident Chuck Worden who tells the harrowing story of trying to save Allen and Taylor.
Note: An earlier version of this story misidentified Taylor as the daughter of Allen.
3 comments
Although I was convinced this crossing was safe, I am so sorry to hear that such an awful tragedy occurred in Waynesboro.
Um...yeah. Current can change quickly, without warning. All kinds of stuff can be carried along underwater that you wouldn't want to step on (like broken glass, sharp rocks) or get struck by (tree branches). I understand that wading is fun, but personally I keep my kids out of creeks that are in full flood.
A friends son drowned in the James river a while back when an obstruction under a bridge suddenly broke loose causing a flash flood. This man was an ex special forces expert swimmer which goes to show that this can happen to anyone. River surges can come quickly during a flood and destroy everything in its path.