’85 Flood

What were you doing the first week of November, forty years ago? If you were living in Rockingham or adjoining counties, you know exactly what you were doing then. The flood of 1985 is forever seared in your memory.

Five days of rain began October 31, 1985, in some areas dumping about six months’ worth of rain. The Daily News-Record’s special edition “Flood ‘85” on November 21, 1985 reported that Harrisonburg city had mainly been troubled by flooded basements and a few overflowing creeks. However, “Rockingham County was not so fortunate.” The paper reported the county lost 4 people killed and sustained over $28 million damage, particularly hitting agriculture and the road system.

For perhaps the first time in 100 years, Route 259 through Brocks Gap was closed, and most communication was cut off because of downed telephone and electric lines. Family members living away from Rockingham County were not able to call and check on relatives in the flooded area.

Northwestern Rockingham was severely damaged. All residents had stories to tell. In Bergton, the post office was flooded, and water level in Stump’s store (Bergton store) was over the top of the counter. The asphalt of Bergton Road along Crab Run was washed completely away, leaving river rocks and deep holes. Mobile homes along German River were flooded and moved off their foundations. Woody Brown of Bergton related that he carried his family to safety through several feet of high water. Brown Hupp’s poultry house, along with most of his flock, was lost to the high waters. 

My in-laws, Dorman and Mary Ritchie, evacuated their home on German River Road and fled to a neighbor’s cabin on Burns Knob, where other neighbor families were sheltering. Their home, located on a slight rise, was not flooded, but some flood waters ran through their poultry house and drowned some of their flock. Though their bridge was spared, the road leading to the bridge was washed away. Approaches to most bridges in Brocks Gap were destroyed.

Yankeetown Road bridge at Fulks Run was completely swept away, stranding residents on one side or the other for days. In 2020, Loretta Ennis recalled that she had to be airlifted out of Yankeetown by National Guard helicopter to Fulks Run Elementary where her family met her. Jo Fulk was 8 years old and was stuck in Cardinal Forest by herself while her parents were trapped in New Market. She was home alone for about a week. Every day at a certain time she walked to a neighbor’s house to report in.

Riverside Church, which had stood by the river’s edge for 60-plus years, was broken apart and swept away. After the water receded, you could see their piano and church steeple in the riverbed about half a mile downstream.

At Fulks Run, the Route 612 bridge near Fulks Run Grocery had water lapping over it, but it held firm in spite of some large trees ramming it. However, on the other side of the bridge, about 200 feet of the road completely washed away. Miles Turner, owner of Fulks Run Grocery, had to spend the night with Garnett and Lena while his wife Marcella was stranded at their house on the other side of the bridge.

Ron Turner filmed the flood with a borrowed video camera, and some of his footage was used on Channel 3 television news reports. When rain started, Ron interviewed Bill Miller, Carroll Yankey, Norma Sherman, Harold Yankey, and Garnett Turner. Their moods went from optimistic in the first days to devastated as they viewed the final damage. Ron’s video will be shown November 9 from 10-12 at the opening of the new Emergency Response Station on Hopkins Gap Road, Fulks Run. It is also available on DVD at Fulks Run Grocery.

Fulks Run resident Barbara Bowman who lived near the Route 612 bridge, summarized her experience. On a Facebook post in December 2020, she shared, “Watching the water rise, I asked Garnett [Turner] about how high the water would go. I was scared for our home. He said it would be fine. Hours later I was standing next to him and he said that he’d never seen anything like this flood. THAT’S when I got afraid. The roar of the water caused me to break out in hives. Even after the water crested and my husband was able to go to sleep, I could not. After the water receded and the river had cut a new path, I was grief-stricken as our beautiful fields were ruined with rock several feet deep, caused when [route] 612 washed out. I will never forget that 24-hour period of the flood and aftermath.”