News Flash

Beginning at about 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 27, 2018, Roanoke County Fire & Rescue crews were starting to be dispatched to calls related to flash flooding occurring in the Cave Spring area of Roanoke County.  Call numbers included the following:

Fire Service Calls—20

Wire Down Calls—8

Technical Rescue Calls—4

Most of the “Fire Service” calls were related to residents who had water coming in their basements.  In these cases, crews responded to the residence to make sure no one was trapped or in danger.

There were eight “Wire Down” calls where citizens called to make a notification that a power line was down. Firefighters responded to these calls to report the pole number for AEP and mark the area with yellow caution tape as needed. 

Fire and rescue personnel also responded to four “Technical Rescue” calls on Sunday where, in three of the cases, they assisted the driver out of their car and to safety relatively easy.  There was one call where crews requested the assistance of the Swift Water Rescue Team from Salem to rescue an older couple from their home.  While crews were setting up, neighbors waded through the deep water to assist the family out of their home and to higher ground.

More rainfall is in the forecast for this week, and officials would like to remind everyone that you should never drive through standing water on the roadway as the road may be washed out beneath the water or the water could sweep your car away.  Additionally, if you live in low-lying areas, you may consider retreating to higher ground when flash flooding has been forecasted.