1969 — Aug 19-20, Camille storm, flash flooding, mudslides, esp. Nelson Co., VA — ~153
— 173 Hearn. Hurricane Camille, 2004, p. 138.
–106 dead — 67 missing
— 162 Dead and missing. Hearn. Hurricane Camille, 2004, p. 138.
— 153 Associated Press. “40 Years After Hurricane Camille.” 8-6-2009.[1]
— 153 Blanchard tally based on county and locality breakouts below.
— 153 NWS. The Hurricane History of Central and Eastern Virginia. Wakefield, VA WFO
— 150 Bechtel, Stefan. Roar of the Heavens [Hurricane Camille]. Citadel Press, 2006, p. 274.
–124 Nelson County.
— 26 All other counties.
— 150 Halverson, Dr. Jeffrey B. Foreword to Bechtel. Roar of the Heavens. 2006, p. viii.
— 150 Highland/Schuster. Significant Landslide Events in the [U.S.]. USGS, 4-16-2003.[2]
— 150 Morgan, et al. Inventory of Debris Flows and Floods…Nelson County, Virginia. 1999.
— 150 Provence. “Flooded With Memories: Nelson County 37…” The Hook, 9-21-2006.[3]
— 150 Sav 1974, Natural Disasters: Some Empirical and Economic Considerations, p. 21.
— 150 USGS. Debris-Flow Hazards within the Appalachian Mountains…, 2008, 2.
— 117 NWSFO, Baltimore/Wash. Greatest Storms of…Cen…Greater Wash/Baltimore. 2005.
— 117 Watson. “The Madison County Flood…” Sterling Reporter, V1/I3, 2002.
— 113 Romano. “Hurricane Camille (August 1969).” Encyclopedia Virginia. 9-9-2010 mod.
–>100 Hearn. Hurricane Camille: Monster Storm of the Gulf Coast. 2004, inside dust cover.
— 84 News Journal, Radford, VA. “Not as Many Missing in State as Feared.” 8-29-1969, 1.[4]
— 84 Southwest Times, Pulaski VA. “Disaster Leaders Differ on Needs.” 8-28-1969, 1.[5]
— 83 Southwest Times, Pulaski VA. “Searchers Don Masks in Disaster Area.” 8-27-1969, 1[6]
Summary of County Breakout
Albemarle County ( 1) This may well have been a Nelson County fatality.
Buckingham County ( 1)
Danville: ( 1)
Goochland County: ( 2)
Nelson County: (125-126) 125 identified and eight unidentified.
Orange County: ( 1)
Rockbridge County: ( 14)
Unidentified ( 8)
Total 153-154
Breakout of Fatalities by County
Albemarle County ( 1)
— 1 Unidentified male, late 50s, found on Albemarle shore at Howardsville [Albemarle Co.].[7]
Buckingham County:( 1)
–1 Buckingham. The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Danville: ( 1)
–1 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Goochland County: ( 2)
–2 Goochland. The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Nelson County: (125-126)
–126 Hearn. Hurricane Camille, 2004, p. 138.
–125 (including 8 unidentified) News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 2019.[8]
–124 Bechtel, Stefan. Roar of the Heavens [Hurricane Camille]. 2006, inside dust jacket, p. 274.
–84 Bodies recovered and identified.
–32 Missing and never found.
— 8 Bodies recovered but never identified.
–124 Provence. “Flooded With Memories: Nelson County 37 Years…” The Hook, 9-21-2006.
–114 Wayside marker, Wood Mill, VA; cited in Provence. “Flooded…” The Hook, 9-21-2006.
–113 Brennan, Shannon. “Two days after landfall, Camille killed 113.” Floyd Press, 8-7-2002.
— 64 News Journal, Radford, VA. “Not as Many Missing in State as Feared.” 8-29-1969, 1.[9]
— 63 Southwest Times, Pulaski VA. “Disaster Leaders Differ on Needs.” 8-28-1969, 1.[10]
— 62 Southwest Times, Pulaski VA. “Searchers Don Masks in Disaster Area.” 8-27-1969, 1.[11]
Nelson County Communities
— 4 Bryant. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering the victims of…Camille…” 2019.
— 1 Buford Island, James River, Nelson Co. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
— 53 Davis Creek community. Provence. “Flooded With Memories…” The Hook, 9-21-2006.
— 53 “ News & Advance, Lynchburg VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.[12]
— 52 “ Wikipedia. “Nelson County, Virginia.” 4-17-2012 modification.
— 2 Duncan Hollow. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 3 Edes Hollow. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 2 Hickory Creek. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 23 Massies Mill. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 8 Norwood. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 4 Polly Wright Cove. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 3 Rockfish River. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 1 Rockfish Station. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 1 Ruckers Run. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 1 Schuyler area. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 7 Tyro. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 1 Upper Hat Creek. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 1 Wheelers Cove. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 2 Wintergreen. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
— 13 Woods Mill. Santa Fe New Mexican. “Virginia’s death toll…” 8-21-1969, 4.
— 7 Woods Mill. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019.
Orange County: ( 1)
–1 Saint Just. The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Rockbridge County: ( 14)
–2 Buena Vista. Progress Index, Petersburg VA. “State Lists Flood Toll.” 8-22-1969, 1.
–6 Cornwall The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
–1 Glasgow The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
–3 Midvale The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
–2 Raphine. Progress Index, Petersburg VA. “State Lists Flood Toll.” 8-22-1969, 1.
Unidentified ( 8)
— 8 News & Advance, Lynchburg VA. “Remembering the victims of…Camille…” 8-10-2019.[13]
— 7 Bechtel (Bechtel notes 124 deaths in Nelson Co. and 26 elsewhere. We note 19 of those.
Mudslides
–52 Davis Creek. Progress Index, Petersburg VA. “Mountains…About Bodies.” 8-22-69, 1[14]
Victims
Bryant, Nelson County ( 4)
Bryant Frances Marshall, 13 News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Bryant, Margaret Louise, 18 “
Bryant, Patricia Anne, 14 “
Bryant, Sara Grace Marshall, 42 “
Buena Vista, Rockbridge County: ( 1)
Allen, Hansford Odell, 69 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Buford Island, James River, Nelson Co. (1) News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.[15]
Cornwall, Rockbridge County: ( 6)
Clark, Frances, ~46 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Clark, John, 21 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Clark, Joseph, 23 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Clark, Kathleen, 14 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Clark, Silas, ~48 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Sorrells, William M., ~80 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Danville (independent city) ( 1)
Graves, Cecil The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Davis Creek, Nelson County: (52)
Burnley, Barbara Louise, 17 (from Buckingham) News & Advance, Lynchburg. 8-10-2019.
Burnley, Roosevelt, 36, Davis Creek area, never found. “
Burnley, Wilbert Lee, 11 (from Buckingham) “
Eheart, Michael Julius, 6, from Lovington. “
Gibson, Linda Lee Huffman, 22 “
Gibson, Patricia Lynn, 1 “
Hudson, Henry, 68 “
Huffman, Annie Virginia Martin, 44, never found “
Huffman, Barbara Lou, 2 “
Huffman, Brenda Ann, 19 “
Huffman, Clyde Mitchell, 16, never found. “
Huffman, David Wayne, 11 “
Huffman, Emma Virginia R., 46 “
Huffman, Gloria Marie, 18 “
Huffman, Hazel Kidd, 45 “
Huffman, James Harvey, 11, never found “
Huffman, James Patrick, Jr., 22 “
Huffman, Jesse Lewis Jr., 18 months “
Huffman, Juanita Burnley, 24 “
Huffman, Lawrence Harvey, 53 “
Huffman, Lottie Beverly, 30 “
Huffman, Rebecca Lou O’Brien, 19, never found “
Huffman, Robert Lee, 45 “
Huffman, Roger Dale, Jr., 4 “
Huffman, Roger Dale Sr., 24, never found “
Johnson, Homer, 43 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.[16]
Johnson, Walter Homer Jr., 17 News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Martin, Alice Marie, 12 “
Martin, Frannie Lee Branch Tinnel, 48, never found.[17] “
Martin, George Washington, 55, never found “
Martin, Mary Ann “Sissy,” 10, never found “
Martin, Mary Burnley, 33 “
Martin, Mrs. May, 45 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.[18]
Martin, Robert Lee, 39 News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.[19]
Martin, Robert Lee Jr., 7, never found “
Perry, Albert, 50 “
Perry, Betty Lee, 12, never found “
Perry, Carolyn Sue, 10, never found “
Perry, Edward, 50, never found “
Perry, Catherine Ann, 14 “
Perry, Elizabeth Emma, 37 “
Perry, John Thomas, 30 “
Perry, John Turner, 22 Progress-Index, Petersburg, VA. 8-24-1969, 29.[20]
Perry, Mary Frances, 12 News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Perry, Nelson, 60, never found. “
Ramsey, Charles Henry, 72, never found. “
Ramsey, Robert Lee, 35[21] “
Schur, Mary Catherine, 24 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.[22]
Schur, Mary Martin, 42 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.[23]
Simpson, Brenda Marie, 9, not found. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Simpson, James “Jimmy” Allan, 13, never found. “
Simpson, Michael “Mike” Lloyd, 10, never found. “
Simpson, Nora Ann, 33 “
Simpson, Paul Edward, 5, never found “
Simpson, Robert Elmo, Jr., 14 “
Simpson, Robert Elmo, Sr., 45 “
Sipes, Luther Glen, 64 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.[24]
Wood, Mable Bishop, 55 News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Wright, Mrs. Wrennie, 63 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.[25]
Duncan Hollow, Nelson County ( 2)
Megginson, James A., 30, never found. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Schur, Mary Catherine Martin, 25 “
Edes Hollow, Nelson County ( 3)
French, Emory, 45, never found. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Thompson, Bonnie Joann, 11, not found. “
Thompson, Edward (Buzz) Beauregard, 37, from Piney River. “
Glasgow, Rockbridge County: ( 1)
Rions, Ernest The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Goochland, Goochland County: ( 2)
Cousins, Franandris, 11 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Farrow, Lyndell, 4 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Hickory Creek, Nelson County ( 2)
Sites, Betty Mawyer, 54 News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Sites, Luther Glenn, 64 “
Massies Mill, Nelson County: (23)
Campbell, Kenneth Edward, 8.[26] News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Campbell, Melissa Kaye, 3-months “
Coles, Alice Smith, 76 “
Daughtery, Daisy, 66[27] “
Giles, Sharon Cecilia, 13. “
Giles, Thomas Hope, 46. “
Grooms, Christine Loving, 20 “
Hughes, Pauline Wood, 48 “
Johnson, Ora Teresa, 15 “
Johnson, Virginia Oakcrum, 49 “
Madison, Willie Harris, 87 “
Madison, Mrs. Willie The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.[28]
Oliver, Jeffrey Wayne, 3 News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Oliver, Regina Rene, 5 months “
Raines, Carl Franklin, Sr. 52 “
Raines, Joanna Gordon, 18 “
Raines, Sandy, 14 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.[29]
Raines, Shirley Gordon, 42. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Raines, Virginia (Ginger?) Estelle, 7. “
Raines, Walter Saunders, 9 “
Thompson, Elizabeth Hamilton, 75 “
Toms, Millie Conway, 68 “
Turner, Mary Louise Giles, 65 “
Wood, Donna Fay, 18, never found “
Wood, Gary, 4, never found “
Midvale, Rockbridge County: ( 3)
Duff, Hiran, ~75 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Robinson, Hubert, ~48 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Robinson, Sallie, ~45 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Norwood, Nelson County: ( 8)
Burnley, Darrell Wayne, “child,” never found. News & Advance, Lynchburg. 8-10-2019.
Burnley, Larry Wade, 8 months News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Burnley, Tom Jr., 33, never found “
Gunter, Lisa Marie, 4, never found “
Gunter, Sylvia Gail, 20 “
Waterman, John, 19, never found “
Wooten, Erma Forbes, 61 “
Wooten, Harry Rexford, Sr., 68 “
Polly Wright Cove, Nelson County: ( 4)
Giles, Annie Texas Ponton, 53. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Giles, George, never found. “
Taylor, Dan Angus, 48, never found “
Taylor, Vernelle Harris, 46, never found “
Raphine, Rockbridge County: ( 2)
Cash, Tracy J., 15 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Groah, Bobby O., 18 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Rockfish River ( 3)
Unidentified male, about 12-14, “found one-half mile below Southern Railroad bridge.”[30]
Unidentified female, about 10, “found about two miles above [west of] Howardsville.”[31]
Unidentified female, “about 6 to 8 years old, found above the Bremo Power Plant.”[32]
Rockfish Station, Nelson County: ( 1)
Critzer, Hattie, 75, never found News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Ruckers Run, Nelson County: ( 1)
Graves, Josephus Cecil, 40, from Danville. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019
Saint Just, Orange County: ( 1)
Altman, Cecil, 30 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Schuyler area ( 1)
Unidentified male, about 17, Rockfish River, “found below Schuyler.”[33]
Tyro, Nelson County: ( 7)
Loving, Harold Eugene, 4 News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Staton, Charles Ashby, 67[34] “
Staton, Flossie Lawhorne, 58 “
Staton, Linda Hope, 19 “
Station, C. Ashby, 43 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Station, Mrs. Flossie, 41 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Station, Linda Hope, 20 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Zirkle, Audrey Lynn, 17 News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Zirkle, Gary Steward, 16[35] “
Zirkle, Laurabell Oliver, 39[36] “
Zirkle, William Henry, 49[37] “
Upper Hat Creek, Nelson County ( 1)
Carter, Carrie, 72, never found News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Wheelers Cove, Nelson County ( 1)
Wright, Wrennie Harris, 75 News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Wintergreen, Nelson County: ( 2)
Ewing, Elva Louise Hines, 37 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Ewing, Elva Louise Hines, 47 News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Ewing, Hanes Edward, 47 The Bee, Danville VA. “List of 58…” 8-23-1969, 4.
Ewing, Hawes Edward, 60. News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. 8-10-2019.
Woods Mill, Nelson County: ( 7)
Dellinger, Otis David, 32 (from Lincolnton, NC. News & Advance, Lynchburg, 8-10-2019.
Hardy, Jabe Andrew, 48, from Danville. “
Herring, Almond Wesley, 35, from Crozet. “
Saunders, Henry Foster, 47, from Bessemer City, NC “
Seal, John Arthur, Jr., 40, from Madison “
Unidentified female, 35-40, Rockfish River at Woods Mill. “
Unidentified female, late 40s to early 50s, one mile below Woods Mill, Rockfish River.[38]
Narrative Information
NWS: “1969 August 19 CAMILLE. Made landfall in Mississippi on August 17. The storm tracked northward and dumped a record 27 inches of rain in the Virginia mountains, primarily in Nelson County. Flash flooding took the lives of 153 people.” (NWS. The Hurricane History of Central and Eastern Virginia. Wakefield, VA WFO.)
NWS: “…remnants of Camille dropped up to 30 inches of rain one night in Nelson County in August 1969. The Nelson County flood ranks as one of the nation’s worst flash floods of this century. The floods and landslides led to the death of 117 people.” (Baltimore/Washington NWS Weather Forecast Office, “The Greatest Storms…”, 2005)
USGS: “The most devastating debris flow…[in VA history] occurred during the night of August 19-20, 1969 in Nelson County, VA. Hurricane Camille, having caused great damage along the Gulf Coast in Mississippi, moved northeast into Virginia as a tropical depression and stalled in central Virginia. The result was a heavy rainfall of at least 710 millimeters (28 inches) within an 8-hour period during the night. Approximately 3,800 debris-flows and associated flooding resulted, destroying houses and killing 150 people within Nelson County.” (USGS. Debris-Flow Hazards within the Appalachian Mountains…, 2008, 2.)
Province: “It was as bright as day the night Warren Raines was orphaned. “The lightning was so intense that it was like now,” says Raines, comparing that night to the daylight of a drizzly September 8 afternoon, the day that would have been his mother, Shirley’s, 80th birthday. “If it wasn’t for the lightning…” he pauses. “I didn’t know what move I’d have to make next. You had to watch your back. Whole houses were floating by… cars, cows…” Raines, 51, sits on a rail of the bridge over the Tye River in the village of Massies Mill. Thirty-seven years ago, the warehouse where his father worked sat atop that bridge, washed 50 yards downstream by the flash flood that swept away Raines’ parents, two sisters, and a brother…..
“More than 900 buildings were destroyed throughout the county…. Perhaps hardest hit was Davis Creek, where an estimated 40-plus inches of rain fell in less than eight hours, wiping away 22 members of the Huffman family alone. Official state numbers show 53 died in Davis Creek– and 28 of those were listed as missing….a once-empty 55-gallon drum on the back of a pickup truck was found with 31 inches of water— in a location that wasn’t in the center of the storm….
“Walking on 56, the water was about knee deep,” continues Raines. “In less than two minutes, it went from knee deep to four or five feet deep. The water was so swift you couldn’t stand against it.” His father and Sandy and Johanna were found two days later. His mother was discovered in a barn about a mile away almost a week after the 19th, in time to be buried with the other three. “That was one of the ways they identified her, through her wedding band,” says Raines. And little Ginger was found two weeks later, swept 17 or 18 miles away…..
Tom Gathright was a geologist for the Virginia Division of Mineral Resources, working in its ground water section. Lovingston had lost its water supply, and he was asked to come down and pick a well site on day three after Camille. He describes the “matchstick pile of big trees” at Woods Mill on Route 29. “It was a terrible mess at the bridge right at the mouth of Davis Creek, where 50 people were killed,” he recalls. “A lot of them were in that pile.” He recounts how a machinery operator began clearing the debris at Woods Mill. The first time he picked up a load, he found a body. “They couldn’t hardly get him back on that equipment,” says Gathright.
“Bare strips exposing rock still dot the mountainsides in Nelson, and the earth loosened by Camille sent down tons of trees, soil, and boulders. When the ground gave way, the debris collected into impromptu dams, until the unrelenting mass of water caused them to burst. Aerial photos of the Davis Creek area show swaths of stone running like a river of rock….
“On the morning after Camille hit Nelson, Dr. Robert Raynor had gone to Waynesboro to make his rounds in the hospital, and was returning to a prenatal clinic in Lovingston when he was stopped by a state trooper on Route 151. “That was the first time I knew how bad it was,” he says from his clinic in Afton, where he still practices. How bad were the injuries? “People either escaped it completely, or they died,” says Raynor, who assisted chief medical examiner Dr. James Gamble. According to Raynor, the deaths were pretty evenly split between drowning and blunt trauma from the tons of debris slamming into houses.
“It wasn’t just Nelsonians who died in Nelson. John Seal Jr., a 40-year-old truck driver for Crozet-based Morton Frozen Foods (later named ConAgra) was washed into the torrent at Woods Mill. The Madison County man’s body was found in Lynchburg. His tractor-trailer cab-mate, Almond W. Herring, 35, of Crozet, died with him. Two truck drivers on their way from Waynesboro to Gastonia, North Carolina were also lost.
“One thing the dead had in common: the force of waters stripped off clothes and even wedding rings, making identification all the harder. On most of the dead, “We didn’t do autopsies,” says Raynor. “The only reason for doing autopsies was to establish identification on 30-some bodies.” (Province, Lisa. “Flooded With Memories, 2006.)
Newspapers
Aug 21: “Richmond, Va. (AP) – Ravaged towns in western Virginia’s Blue Ridge foothills counted a rising toll of dead today from the state’s most lethal floodwaters in 33 years. By late Wednesday [Aug 21], 38 persons were known to have perished and 32 others were missing in the flash flooding from torrents of rain touched off by the remnants of Hurricane Camille….
“Thirteen of Virginia’s known dead and 23 of the missing were in the tiny community of Massies Mill on the Tye River in Nelson County. The even smaller community of Woods Mills, also in Nelson County, counted 13 drowned.
“At Glasgow, Va., where the Maury River and the James join, nine persons were missing.
“Elsewhere, bodies were found floating in rivers, inside wrecked buildings and in automobiles washed off highways into deeply flooded fields.
“In Buena Vista, 3,000 of its 6,500 residents were evacuated from their homes….” (Santa Fe New Mexican. “Virginia’s death toll rising after Camille floods area.” 8-21-1969, 4.)
Aug 22: “Lovingston (AP)…the big twin-rotor copter clatters over a ridge and you see the slides. Of the 33 persons known dead and 80 missing in Nelson County from Hurricane Camille’s last gasp rains Tuesday and Wednesday, most were buried rather than drowned. Coming on the heels of two of Virginia’s wettest summer months on record, Camille’s 8-12 inches of rain simply broke the soil’s bond on mountainsides and gravity did the rest. Almost wherever two mountainsides abutted, the sod was sluiced away, carrying tons of earth, boulders and trees into houses of mountain residents below.
“At the Davis Creek community just northwest of the county seat such a slide started at the head of the hollow and swept away 23 or 25 homes on the mountainside. Early today the toll from Davis Creek alone stood at 12 known dead and 51 missing and feared dead. “We got trees as big around as truck wheels stacked 20 feet high in there,” said A. B. Purvis of Shipman, who led a search team into the area Thursday. ‘Some of those people we aren’t ever going to find,’ he said.
“Though the slide at Davis Creek was probably the worst, almost every mountain in the county wears one or more wide orange scars on its green flanks where the red Virginia mud shows through the trees.
“Thursday there was talk of dynamiting some of the large piles of slide debris to speed the search for victims, but no decision was made. There are too many other communities still to be searched.” (Progress Index, Petersburg VA. “Mountains so Beautiful Man Forgets About Bodies.” 8-22-1969, 1.)
Sources
Associated Press. “40 Years After Hurricane Camille.” 8-6-2009.
Bechtel, Stefan. Roar of the Heavens [Hurricane Camille]. Citadel Press, 2006.
Find A Grave. “Charles Ashby Staton,” Memorial ID: 19532846 created by Stephanie Nichols, 5-26-2007. Accessed 2-24-2020: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19532846/charles-ashby-staton
Find A Grave. “Frances Lee ‘Fanny’ Tinnell Martin.” Record created by Thomas, 3-8-2016. Accessed 2-24-2020 at: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/159037532/frances-lee-martin
Hearn, Philip D. Hurricane Camille: Monster Storm of the Gulf Coast. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2004.
Highland, Lynn M. and Robert L. Schuster. Significant Landslide Events in the United States. USGS, 4-16-2003. Accessed 12-15-2017 at: https://landslides.usgs.gov/learn/significantls.php
Morgan, B. A., G. Oivine, P. Chirico, and G. F. Wieczorek. Inventory of Debris Flows and Floods in the Lovingston and Horseshoe Mountain, VA, 7.5’ Quadrangles, from the August 19/20, 1969, Storm in Nelson County, Virginia (Open-File Report 99-518) U.S. Geological Survey. 1999. Accessed 5-12-2012: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1999/ofr-99-0518/ofr-99-0518.html
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Baltimore/Washington. The Greatest Storms of the Century in the Greater Washington-Baltimore Region. Sterling, VA: NOAA, NWS, Dec 28, 2005 update. At: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/lwx/Historic_Events/StormsOfCentury.html
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Wakefield, VA. The Hurricane History of Central and Eastern Virginia. Accessed 1-5-2018 at: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/akq/adobe_pdf/Hurrhist.pdf
News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering the victims of Hurricane Camille in Nelson County.” 8-10-2019. Accessed 2-24-2010 at: https://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/remembering-the-victims-of-hurricane-camille-in-nelson-county/article_fab7a328-62a9-5a8d-8ea9-4c6eb62939a6.html
News Journal, Radford, VA. “75 Known Dead, 89 Missing.” 8-25-1969, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=183507300
News Journal, Radford, VA. “Not as Many Missing in State as Feared.” 8-29-1969, p. 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=183507320
Progress Index, Petersburg VA. “Mountains so Beautiful Man Forgets About Bodies.”.” 8-22-69, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=120096274
Progress-Index, Petersburg VA. “State Lists Flood Toll.” 8-22-1969, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=120096274
Provence, Lisa. “Flooded With Memories: Nelson County 37 Years After Camille.” The Hook, 9-21-2006. At: http://www.readthehook.com/stories/2006/09/21/coverAmalg.doc.aspx
Romano, Lisa. “Hurricane Camille (August 1969).” Encyclopedia Virginia. Brendan Wolfe (Ed.). 9-9-2010 modification. Accessed 5-12-2012 at: http://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Hurricane_Camille_August_1969
Santa Fe New Mexican, NM. “Virginia’s death toll rising after Camille floods area.” 8-21-1969, 4. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=48547590
Sav, Thomas G. Natural Disasters: Some Empirical and Economic Considerations (Final Report, NBSIR 74-473). Washington, DC: National Bureau of Standards, Institute for Applied Technology, Center for Building Technology, Building Economics Section, February 1974, 74 pages. Accessed 7-12-2017 at: http://www.fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/build74/PDF/b74006.pdf
Southwest Times, Pulaski VA. “Disaster Leaders Differ on Needs.” 8-28-1969, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=170298381
Southwest Times, Pulaski VA. “Searchers Don Masks in Disaster Area.” 8-27-1969, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=170298375
The Bee, Danville, VA. “List of 58 Identified Victims of Flooding in Virginia Areas.” 8-23-1969, 4. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=93532912
United States Geological Survey. Debris-Flow Hazards within the Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States. 2008, 4 pp. http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3070/fs2008-3070.pdf
Watson, Barbara (Warning Coordination Meteorologist). “Historic Chronicle: The Madison County Flood of June 27, 1996.” Sterling Reporter, Vol. 1, Issue 3, Fall 2002, p. 7. Accessed at: http://www.erh.noaa.gov/lwx/reporter/fall2002.pdf
Wikipedia. “Nelson County, Virginia.” 4-17-2012 modification. Accessed at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_County,_Virginia#cite_note-hurricanewatch.mgnetwork.com-3
[1] “Richmond – Virginia officials want to hear from residents who were around 40 years ago when Hurricane Camille killed 153 people in the State.”
[2] These are listed as Landslide fatalities in Nelson County. We believe the number “150” is more reflective of all the Virginia losses, though Nelson County did suffer the most fatalities. A number of bodies were never recovered and it is unknown to anyone how many died from slides, and how many drowned in the flash flooding.
[3] Reported as mostly in Nelson County, or, later in the report “about 1 percent of the citizens of Nelson County.”
[4] “…with 90 persons unaccounted for.”
[5] With another 94 reported as missing.
[6] With another 104 reported as missing.
[7] News & Advance, Lynchburg, VA. “Remembering…” 8-10-2019. In that this article is devoted to Nelson County fatalities, the impression is that the writers believed the fatality was that of a Nelson County resident.
[8] Provides a listing of “the 125 people who died in Nelson County on Aug. 19 and 20, 1969. Eight never were identified; 33 were never found.”
[9] Noting that “64 others are still unaccounted for.”
[10] With another 82 reported as unaccounted for.
[11] With another 88 reported as missing.
[12] Includes unidentified woman, about 70, whose body was found at Buford Island, James River, Nelson County.
[13] “Of the unidentified dead, the adults were believed to be traveling on U.S. 29 when they were swept away in the floodwaters. The children all were believed to have been traveling together since they had all eaten red beans shortly before they died.” Adds: “Information courtesy of Oakland – Nelson County Museum of History.
[14] Wikipedia notes the number of fatalities. The Progress Index article notes the cause as mudslides, while noting that 12 were known dead and 51 missing.
[15] “Female, about 70 years old, long, white hair, found at Buford Island between Howardsville and Wingina.”
[16] Not in listing of victims supplied by the News & Advance (Lynchburg VA) 8-10-2019.
[17] The Danville Bee (8-23-1969, p. 4) lists as “Fannie Martin,” age 50. Find A Grave shows photograph of marriage certificate which shows her name as Fannie Le Branch Tinnell. Her Find A Grave Memorial page is under the name of “Frances Lee ‘Fanny’ Tinnell Martin” Page notes she was lost in the Davis Creek flood.
[18] Not in listing of victims supplied by the News & Advance (Lynchburg VA) 8-10-2019.
[19] The Danville Bee (8-23-1969, p. 4) notes the age of Robert Martin as 45.
[20] Not in listing of victims supplied by the News & Advance (Lynchburg VA) 8-10-2019.
[21] The Danville Bee (8-23-1969, p. 4) notes age as 37.
[22] The News & Advance (8-10-2019) lists Mary Catherine Martin Schur, 25, as “Duncan Hollow” not Davis Creek.
[23] In that the News & Advance (8-10-2019) does not list a Mary Martin Schur, but does list a Mary Catherine Marin Schur, 25, in Duncan Hollow, we speculate this is an incorrect listing, and this is one and the same person.
[24] The News & Advance (Lynchburg, VA, 8-10-2019) lists a Luther Glenn Sites, 64, as a Hickory Creek fatality.
[25] News & Advance (Lynchburg, VA, 8-10-2019) has as Wrennie Harris Wright, 75, and location as Wheelers Cove.
[26]The Danville Bee (8-23-1969, p. 4), has age as 8.
[27] The Danville Bee (8-23-1969, p. 4), has age as 55.
[28] Not in listing of victims supplied by the News & Advance (Lynchburg VA) 8-10-2019.
[29] Not in listing of victims supplied by the News & Advance (Lynchburg VA) 8-10-2019.
[30] News & Advance (Lynchburg VA). “Remembering…victims of Hurricane Camille in Nelson County.” 8-10-2019.
[31] News & Advance (Lynchburg VA). “Remembering…victims of Hurricane Camille in Nelson County.” 8-10-2019.
[32] “From Rockfish River…” News & Advance (Lynchburg VA). “Remembering…victims of Hurricane Camille in Nelson County.” 8-10-2019. We looked up location of the Bremo Power Station to find New Canton, Fluvanna County. In that this fatality is noted within an article devoted to Nelson County fatalities, it seems that the writer/s felt that the victim was a Nelson County resident whose body was washed down the Rockfish River to the James and then down to the Power Station.
[33] News & Advance (Lynchburg VA). “Remembering…victims of Hurricane Camille in Nelson County.” 8-10-2019.
[34] “Staton” is correct spelling of last name. Find A Grave shows a headstone for Charles Ashby Staton which clearly shows the spelling of the name, noting he was killed in the flood on Aug 20, 1969 along with his wife and daughter.
[35] The Danville Bee (“List of 58…,” 8-23-1969, p. 4), has age as 14.
[36] The Danville Bee (“List of 58…,” 8-23-1969, p. 4), has age as 48.
[37] The Danville Bee (“List of 58…,” 8-23-1969, p. 4), has age as 48.
[38] News & Advance (Lynchburg VA) 8-10-2019.