Special Report
- Read more stories about Hurricane Camille
- Audio slideshow: Hear excerpts from Trooper Ed Tinsley's audio diary and see 1969 photos of the hurricane's aftermath
- Check out an interactive map of Camille's path and more
Forty years ago this week, the remnants of Hurricane Camille ripped through Nelson County and surrounding areas, devastating homes, tearing apart roadways, washing away bridges and killing more than 120 county residents.
The far-reaching impact of the storm on the county will be remembered at an event hosted by Oakland Museum on Thursday at Nelson County High School.
The program, which is the last in a series of six organized by the museum this year, begins at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Oakland’s event will begin with a slideshow of rarely seen photographs showing the storm’s effects. The names of those who died in the storm and the flood that occurred that night will be read by the Rev. John Gordon, who was the minister of Calvary Baptist Church in Lovingston when the storm occurred.
Hugh Swain, a county extension agent at the time, will moderate the program. Speakers will include Colleen Stevens Thompson, who was swept more than three miles down Muddy Creek and lost one of her three children to the flood; and Curtis Matthews, who lost his home, which was located just south of Woods Mill where Muddy Creek and Davis Creek meet.
Cliff Wood, a Nelson County supervisor at the time who coordinated the county’s response to the disaster, will talk about the changes that came about as a result.
Allen Hale, current chairman of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors, will read a proclamation passed by the board honoring those who lost their lives, and those who contributed to the rescue and recovery.
Survivors of the flood and rescue and recovery workers also will be recognized.
Another event, scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday by the Rockfish Valley Foundation, also will commemorate the events of that fateful night in 1969.
Held at the site of a Hurricane Camille historical marker at the Rockfish Valley Trail Head on Virginia 151, the program will tell the story of the tragedy in the Rockfish Valley through the eyes of those on the scene during the search and recovery.
A scrapbook kept by John Phillips, who was the resident engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation at the time, will be on exhibit.
Earl Swift, who wrote the book, “The Day the Rains Came,” also will be present.
For more information on the event held by the Rockfish Valley Foundation, call (434) 361-1296.
For more information on the event held by the Oakland Museum, call (434) 263-8400.
w McGrath is a reporter for the Nelson County Times.
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