Mount Airy issued a State of Emergency at 10 p.m. Saturday after severe flooding tore through the city, closing roads and bridges and damaging public infrastructure, utilities, public facilities and private property.
By then, crews had already carried out six water rescues on stranded vehicles Saturday evening, and the emergency only deepened as water rescues and flooding in homes began around midnight. Between 5 and 10 inches of rain fell within a few hours, turning streets into a hazard and forcing officials to shut down access across Mount Airy and Surry County.
Byron Isaacs said the rescues on stranded vehicles were underway before the declaration came, a sign that the danger had already outpaced the city's normal response. He also said many roads and bridges were closed around the city, though the exact number was not given.
The Ararat River added to the crisis when it crested at nearly 29 feet around 3 a.m., according to The National Weather Service in Blacksburg, Virginia. WXII in Winston-Salem reported the onset of the rescues and home flooding, while the broader pattern matched severe flash flooding in the northern Foothills that spread fast enough to overwhelm roads, low-lying properties and public systems.
There is some relief in the latest reading: water levels had dropped about four feet as of last night. But that did not mean the danger was over, and residents were still being told to stay vigilant because damage to roads, bridges and homes had already been done, and the State of Emergency in Mount Airy remained the clearest signal that recovery had only just begun.
