Parts of Danville, Virginia, are submerged in floodwaters after Tropical Storm Michael brought heavy rain and wind to the area Thursday afternoon.
Danville Utilities estimate roughly 20,000 customers are without power Friday with flash flood warnings still in effect throughout parts of southern Virginia, including Blacksburg and Roanoke. “A *FLASH FLOOD EMERGENCY* is in effect for southern Pittsylvania County & the City of Danville. Extreme flooding is occurring in the warned area with multiple ongoing swift water rescues according to county officials. This is an EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION!” The National Weather Service’s Blacksburg branch tweeted.
Earlier Friday, the agency warned residents to beware of 40 mph wind gusts, which could cause frees to fall.
Danville Police say personnel is moving quickly to recuse stranded drivers and those trapped by surge flooding. One person has reportedly drowned to death.
Stunning scenes from around Danville are making the rounds on social media:
Breitbart News profiled Danville’s decline this July in a deep-dive investigation of NAFTA’s effect on the once-thriving working-class town. Author Chadwick Moore wrote:
Downtown, once a booming trade district, today is a decomposed industrial husk, a tidy cluster of silent rectangles ensnared by broad, ghostly thoroughfares built for a time in the not-so-distant past when people and goods poured in and out of town.
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This year, citing demand, the city of Danville announced plans to open a second homeless shelter. The city’s population, at 41,000, has been in freefall since NAFTA, with 10,000 fewer residents today than in the mid-90s, and many of those who’ve remained were only able to do so because of retirement packages from Dan River Mills.