FRANKLIN, Va. (WAVY) — Twenty-five years ago Monday, Hurricane Floyd and the devastating flooding it brought to Franklin changed the small city forever.
The story was, essentially, not known for several hours.
Most people in Hampton Roads thought the worst was over when Floyd hit and then quickly left the region.
Little did we know that Franklin was flooded.
“Good evening from Myrtle Beach, I’m Andy Fox on the 10th floor of the Breakers Hotel.”
Up and down the mid-Atlantic coast, reporters braved the elements to document a storm that was perilously close to a Category 5 hurricane.
“Floyd road ashore as a Category 2 hurricane, a far cry from the Cat. 5 just days earlier,” according to a news report at the time.
The Sandbridge section of Virginia Beach, as well as parts of the Outer Banks, were evacuated as the typical spots were experiencing up to 20 inches of flooding.
And, while all eyes were on the Atlantic, little attention was paid to the Blackwater River in Franklin.
“We didn’t hear much about Franklin. We didn’t hear about Franklin at all, by the fact that communications were dead,” said Jim Councill, former Franklin mayor.
It wasn’t until Andy Fox, by phone, alerted the public that Franklin was underwater.
Councill took 10 On Your Side for a boat ride in the aftermath of Floyd that left people stunned.
“This is our telephone company, GTE, and we’ve lost all communications,” Councill said at the time. … That’s Main Street Franklin right there.”
The Blackwater River breached its banks by 22 feet.
“It’s the worst disaster I’ve ever seen here,” Councill said. “Nothing like it.”
Floyd claimed 57 lives in eight states and the Bahamas.
In Franklin, gauges were installed along the Blackwater River, and City Hall has offered incentives to bring businesses back to downtown.