CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) - Several inches of rain fell in parts of central Virginia on Saturday, causing floodwaters that closed roads to traffic and leading one county to evacuate residents downstream from a dam.
Chesterfield County authorities declared a state of emergency on Saturday afternoon.
By early evening, the county’s police, fire and emergency medical services were evacuating homes downstream from the Falling Creek Dam, south of Richmond. A high school was being opened as a shelter.
The water level above the dam was at over 100 feet just before 6 p.m., according to a news release. A county spokeperson didn’t immediately have information about the extent of the threat of a dam spillover.
The National Weather Service had posted on Saturday night several flash flood warnings and watches for counties in eastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina.
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