1973 — May 27-28, Severe Thunderstorms and Flash Flooding, Western NC –11-12

–12 Environmental Data Service, NOAA. Storm Data. Vol. 15, No. 5, May 1973, p. 13.
–6 Ashe County
–3 Beaver Creek community, New River south fork, washed away house.
–1 Mrs. Roscoe Wilcox, 50
–1 Bernita Williams Pruitt, 25, daughter of Mrs. Roscoe Wilcox.
–1 Bobby Gale Pruitt, 4, son of Bernita Wilcox Pruitt.
–1 Crumpler section. Mrs. Evelyn Howell Phipps, 41 (husband and son missing)
–4 Buncombe County
–2 Skyland community. Two-family mobile home washed away.
–1 Shannon Woods, 9-months, swept away from trailer home; three missing.
–1 Jason Roberts, 26, Cane Creek section, mobile home destroyed by flooding.
–1 Graham County
–1 Haywood County
–1 Karen Hutmaker, 9; campsite overrun by flood water into Pigeon River.
–11 AP. “Flooding Toll Rises.” Statesville Record & Landmark, NC. 5-31-1973, 13B.

Narrative Information

EDS, NOAA: “Western North Carolina 27 & 28 [May 1973]…12 [deaths]…Flooding, Severe Thunderstorms and Tornadoes.

“Excessive flooding throughout the mountains. Crop damage in excess of $10 million; property damage in excess of $15 million. Deaths by counties: Haywood 1; Buncombe 4; Ashe 6; and Graham 1. Number of persons injured unavailable. Several tornadoes reported in area.” (Storm Data. Vol. 15, No. 5, May 1973, p. 13.)

Newspapers

May 29: “Search operations were scheduled to resume this morning for six persons missing in western North Carolina after the area was slashed by 36 hours of destructive tornadoes and rampaging floodwaters. Seven persons were known dead as the storms demolished homes and businesses, uprooted trees, downed power and communications lines and washed away bridges.

“‘It looked like a tidal wave coming at me,’ said Porter Fowler Jr., an Asheville policeman, describing a four-foot wall of water which swept through his father’s trailer park at the Skyland community in Buncombe County late Sunday night [May 27]. The water carried with it for about a mile downstream a small mobile home that was occupied by two families. The bodies of David Wayne Woody, 23, and his two-year-old son Christopher were recovered near a bridge about a mile from the park. Still missing when the search was called off because of darkness were Woody’s daughter, Shannon, 9 months, and Jason Roberts, 26, a neighbor. Woody’s wife, Annette, and Roberts’ wife, Kathryn, were rescued when they were discovered clinging to a tree in the swollen stream. Both women were taken to local hospitals suffering from shock where they were reported in satisfactory condition Monday night. The Woodys and their two small children left their mobile home to seek shelter in a nearby brick home, but got only as far as the Roberts’ small trailer where they sought shelter when the flood waters hit. Ironically, the Woodys’ abandoned mobile home weathered the storm unscathed.

“Authorities in Ashe County reported that four persons have been found dead and four more were missing Monday night. Three bodies representing three generations of one family were recovered Monday from the wreckage of a flooded house in the Beaver Creek community on the south fork of the New River. They were identified as: Mrs. Roscoe Wilcox, 50; her daughter Bernita Wilcox Pruitt, 25; and Mrs. Pruitt’s son Bobby Gale, 4. It was feared that two other persons were in the house at the time of the disaster.

“Authorities said a body identified as that of Mrs. Evelyn Howell Phipps, 41, was recovered Monday near the Crumpler section of Ashe County. Her husband and son were missing.

“Haywood County authorities say the body of a nine-year-old girl was recovered Monday in the Pigeon River near the Blue Ridge Parkway. Karen Hutmaker drowned Sunday night as her father, Air Force Sgt. Marlin Hutmaker of Shaw AB, S.C., was trying to swim to safety from his flooded campsite with the child clinging to his back.

“Gov. Jim Holshouser called out a unit of the N.C. National Guard in Buncombe County Monday, where damages to private property were estimated at around $2 million.

“A state of emergency continued today in the Cherokee County town of Murphy. Mayor Cloe Moore said flood waters had risen three feet above the pumps at the town’s water plant. He asked that the town’s 2,082 residents use water only for drinking until the flood waters subside….” (Associated Press. “Storms Leave Seven Dead. Six Missing in Floods.” Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC. 5-29-1973, p. 1.)
Source

Associated Press. “Flooding Toll Rises.” Statesville Record & Landmark, NC. 5-31-1973, 13B. Accessed 1-12-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/statesville-record-and-landmark-may-31-1973-p-16/

Associated Press. “Storms Leave Seven Dead. Six Missing in Floods.” Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC. 5-29-1973, p. 1. Accessed 1-12-2022 at:
https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-daily-times-news-may-29-1973-p-1/

Associated Press. “Tornadoes and Floods Sweep Carolinas; Four Known Dead.” Daily Times-News, Burlington, NC. 5-28-1973, p. 1. Accessed 1-12-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/burlington-daily-times-news-may-28-1973-p-2/

Environmental Data Service, NOAA. Storm Data. Asheville, NC, Vol. 15, No. 5, May 1973. Accessed 1-8-2022 at: Accessed 1-8-2021 at: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/orders/IPS/IPS-79670899-2C70-449D-8CFB-A1C43DEB0026.pdf

United Press International. “Flood Damage Extensive in N.C. – Eight Dead, Four Missing.” Daily Independent, Kannapolis, NC, 5-30-1973, p. 12A. Accessed 1-12-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/kannapolis-daily-independent-may-30-1973-p-11/