The water rose higher and came in quicker than people expected. Just after 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon, the Appomattox River overflowed its banks, cresting at around 21 feet. That meant it not only poured over roads, but also creeped into some buildings, making tropical storm cleanup even harder. One of those belonged to Better Days Farmville. 

Located at 314 N. South Street, officials with the Farmville nonprofit saw water getting closer and put out a call for help. By just after 5 p.m., they had both a place to take donations and volunteers to help move things. The Prince Edward Farmville Youth Association agreed to let Better Days store things at their gym. The FACES food pantry brought over two box trucks, which were quickly filled to the brim with donations. 

“There was water across the road around 5 p.m. when we started and by 6 p.m., the water was covering the road, parking lot and throughout the inside of the building,” said Jeff Sargent with PEFYA. 

Other members of the community also showed up to help, including the Rotary Club of Farmville, Boy Scout Troop 6516 and some folks who just heard about the need and wanted to contribute. 

“We moved what we could until the water rose to where it was not safe to have vehicles,” said Sarah Mullins Spears, the founder of Better Days. 

Help with tropical storm cleanup

Once the water fully recedes, group members will go back to their South Main Street location and take a look around to assess any damage, both to donations that had to be left behind and the building itself. They may need some help with tropical storm cleanup next week, as well as moving items back from the PEFYA gym once the site is ready. 

Mullins-Spears said Better Days would reach out again to the community once they have a better idea of the building’s conditions and what’s needed. 

One thing that has been postponed as a result of the weather is the organization’s ‘Big Give’ for August. The group had decided before the storm hit to move that to Saturday, Sept. 7. 

What about roads and damage? 

Cleanup continues today, with all primary roads in Prince Edward, Cumberland and Buckingham back to normal. The problems remain with secondary roads, of which many remain closed. In Buckingham, 10 secondary roads were shut down as of noon. For example, Matthews Creek didn’t just overflow its banks. It flooded over the bridge on Woods Road, causing serious damage. Parts of the bridge itself were washed away. It’ll be some time before that is fully repaired. Also in Buckingham, Route 741 East between S. James River Highway and Woodland Church Road is closed. Route 609 South between Paradise Road and South James River Highway remains shut. Route 608 South from First Rock Road to Saw Mill Road is closed, with water slowly receding as of noon Saturday. 

Cumberland had just one secondary road still under water as of Saturday morning. Route 600 from Burks Road to Plank Road is closed. VDOT officials were still assessing some roads in Prince Edward County as of noon Saturday and didn’t have a complete update. 

Another round on the way?

Tropical Storm Debby might be gone, but another storm could be on the horizon. Forecasters with the National Weather Service (NWS) are currently tracking a system over the east-central tropical Atlantic Ocean. NWS officials say there’s an 80% chance this becomes a tropical depression in the next seven days, moving up to tropical storm status as it heads through the Caribbean. 

What does that mean for Farmville and Central Virginia overall? Forecasters say it’s way too early to predict anything other than the possibility of some more very wet weather.

To see some photos from Friday’s flooding, just click here.