EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article was transcribed from the May 7, 1930 edition of The Roanoke Times.
CLOUDBURST CAUSES HAVOC IN VIRGINIA MINING TOWN
DANTE SUFFERS HEAVY DAMAGE
Six Inches of Rain in Four Hours Sends Streams on Rampage
ROAD OUTLETS BLOCKED
Part of Town Under Water and Passenger Trains are Delayed
Dante, May 7 (AP) — One house and a number of garages were washed from their foundations, other homes and Dante hospital flooded to depths of a foot or more, and household furnishings and automobiles destroyed by the flood waters resulting from a cloudburst that followed rain starting here at 1:30 p.m. today. Estimates of the damage fixed the property loss at between $10,000 and $15,000, including damage to merchandise in a store and loss from damages to household goods and automobiles at approximately $5,000.
All houses and buildings that were flooded, including the hospital, are owned by the Clinchfield Coal Corporation.
Ten patients were in the hospital at the time of the flood and preparations were being made for their removal when the waters began to recede.
A light rain, which started falling shortly before 3:30 p.m. and a sky filled with heavy, black clouds, gave first notice the force of the rain had greatly increased and the storm continued until 5:30 p.m. Measurements at the government weather observatory here gave the total precipitation as six inches.
Tracks of the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway were under water for some distance. One span of a railway bridge two miles south of Dante was washed out.
It was at first feared that the hospital, a one-story frame structure, might be swept away as a quantity of driftwood and other debris lodged against it. The debris formed a dam and water flowed into the hospital windows.
TOWN ISOLATED BY STORM
St. Paul, May 6 (Special) — What was said to be the worst flood in the history of Dante occurred this afternoon following a 2-hour rain. Property damage was estimated between $5,000 and $10,000, according to reports here. Most of the damage was to household goods which had been moved out of houses.
Hail fell for an hour.
Approximately 5-1/2 inches of rain fell, causing streams to rise quickly.
PUPILS PANIC STRICKEN
Most of the school children were dismissed before the storm and, caught in the furious rain, were blocked from their homes by a raging creek. Panic seized the children, but they were quieted and none were injured.
Although damage is reported as extensive, there was no loss of life in the vicinity as far as learned. Piles of debris were brought down from the hollows.
High water had tied up C. C. & O passenger trains and all highway outlets were cut off.
Tonight, the water was subsiding but conditions were described as still bad.
RAIN WIDE AREA
Bluefield, W. Va., May 6 (Special) — Reports of a cloudburst at Dante, Va., reached here this afternoon. The cloudburst occurred at 2:45 o’clock, and one hour later the railroad yards there were under several feet of water. It was said three feet of water was standing in the yard offices. It was understood that no loss of life resulted from the deluge. Considerable rain fell this afternoon throughout the entire Dickenson and Russell County area.
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THE 1930 FLOOD PHOTOS FEATURED BELOW were shared with the Clinch Valley Times by a friend who found them in his late mother’s albums. At that time, the hills surrounding Dante were not so heavily forested as they are today. This caused the heavy rain that fell during a relatively short period of time to rush down the steep hillsides into the populated area below. As you can see, it could have been much, much worse – especially if the flood had occurred at night.
In all these pictures, you will notice that as soon as the danger was past, neighbors were on the scene, doing what they could to help those whose homes had been flooded. That spirit of community was very much in evidence following the July 18, 2025 flood at Dante. Proof that “Dante Lives On.”
(Above) The Clinchfield Hospital
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