Johnson City Press from Johnson City, Tennessee • 1

1 i Flood alert High near 70 Details on Page 2 2 Sections 20 Pages JOHNSON GHRtPRESS-CHRONICLE WHAT THE PEOPLE KNOW WILL HURT THEM JOHNSON CITY TN 37601 MONDAY EVENING NOVEMBER 7 1977 Vol 58 No 86 Daily 15c Sunday 35c Phone 615-92M111 ational Guard called into Unicoi i County as area is devastated by floods Carter Unicoi Counties Many bndges in Carter County were destroyed or damaged including some in Burbank Heaton Creek Crabtree and Heaton two at Shell Creek and Roan Mountain Schools in both counties as well as in Johnson County are scheduled to be closed today because of flood damage and power loss Health officials in damaged counties advised that all drinking water should be boiled 10 to 15 minutes to protect against contamination Water the drinking kind not the flooding kind was one of the critical needs in Unicoi County Many wells pump houses and cisterns were rendered unsafe by the floodwaters The National Guard provided two tanks of drinking water one located at Umcoi County Memorial Hospital the other taken from Love Chapel School to the Radio Station WEMB location And Guardsmen said they would provide more water if it was needed The streams which caused so much problem yesterday in Unicoi County were back within their normal channels this mommg There were of course pools and even lakes of water left in low spots when the flood subsided Erwin Utilities Board Manager Howard Brown said this morning that the water situation was about back to normal except for areas where water lines were cut and be repaired until water has gone down The affected areas he said are Rock Creek Keever Street the south end of town where an eight-inch water mam was broken on Carolina Avenue at Martin Creek The Temple Hill Utility District pumping station was washed out Brown said the Erwin Utilities water tank is nearly full and Erwin will be able to furnish water to Temple Hill Umcoi County Memorial Hospital was without water yesterday but has it today areas are without power Brown said such as Bumpass Cove and Keever Street Utility poles were washed out Many others are leaning badly in the south end he said buf are being held by supporting guy wires A survey of damage in Umcoi County revealed that a radio tower shared by station WEMB and WXIX was surrounded by the (See CARTER Page 10) ft -ft The first casualty of flooding which occurred Sunday in Carter and Unicoi counties was reported about noon today Rescuers removed the body of an unidentified person from South Indian Creek in Unicoi County near Earnestville about 100 yards from 19W-23 A National Guard helicopter was deployed to lift the body from the ram-swollen stream The body was taken to Ledford Chapel Funeral Home Erwin for identification A hard and steady ram Saturday mght and Sunday morning sent the Nolichucky and Doe rivers raging over their banks to devastate large portions of both counties The Tennessee National Guard was deployed to assist in helping families left homeless find shelter and to prevent looting of businesses Hardest hit Unicoi County was the southern part of the county and Union Street in Erwin Both the Nolichucky River and South Indian Creek overflowed sweeping vehicles small buildings and trees downstream and destroying 75 percent of the bndges Roan Mountain a frequent site of Carter County flooding bore the brunt of the damage in that county Sweepmg waters in downtown Roan Mountain washed asphalt away on some streets More flood pictures Car is shown flipped against tree along South Indian Creek at Earnestville near junction of highways 19W and 23 in Unicoi County on Pages 6 7 8 9 Washington Johnson City Vi 4 -y? 1 st fr i irn ft- -k they lost two cars all their personal belongings and all of their tobacco crop which was ready for market Many of the tobacco farmers along the river lost their crops to the floodwaters The tobacco markets are scheduled to open later this month and most of the tobacco had already been prepared for market The sheriffs department said that State Rt 81 was flooded along its entire route They issued warnings to motorists to stay off the road Downtown portions of both Johnson City and Jonesboro suffered from high water Businesses along West Market Street in Johnson City got some water in their stores At 6 a the water had receded and some of the owners were cleaning up In Jonesboro up to two feet of water was reported in some shops at two low-lying spots along Main Street The water had flowed out -by about 7 30 a leaving gooey red clay mud An ice cream shop Gem Stones Flee nor Realty Service Shoe Shop and Homespun Treasures were among shops getting water damage Jonesboro Water System custoqiers may soon be without water if submerged equipment at the intake stations along the flooded Nolichucky River are not repaired Water Department employees are working to repair damaged pumps and motors but (See WASHINGTON Page 10) The Steady tattoo of rain during the mght brought flooding conditions to Washington County yesterday morning and to low-lying sections of Johnson City The Nolichucky River flooded out of Umcoi County sweeping across the bottom lands near Lamar and Embreeville and causing some evacuations Law enforcement officers volunteer firemen rescue squadsmen and volunteers spent a busy day after the floodwaters blocked roads and highways swept away bridges and flooded homes One observer of the Embreeville area said are uncounted homes flooded Washington County schools were closed today due to a number of problems The Nolichucky in the Creek area along State R1 107 was nearly a mile wide Trailers campers summer homes farm trucks and machinery all up and down the river were lost to the rampaging river The Nolichucky Volunteer Fire Department rescued Mrs Bessie Cloyd 88 who lives near Jackson Bridge off Rt 107 early yesterday morning They also brought residents from four other houses In the Creek area Betty Roberts who lives on higher ground called the Barbara Casey residence at 6 a to advise Mrs Casey and her son Lynn of the magnitude of the storm The Caseys cut all electrical switches and were able to get one car out But a- Western North Carolina Staff Photo by Herchel Ornduff Road to Roan Mountain (State Highway 143) near Burbank community to Carter County Carter budget hurt by garbage costs and in pretty good a deputy said adding that most of the residents-received water from spnngs and there was no shortage Schools in the county however remained closed The Mitchell County communities of Poplar and Pigeon Roost were completely cut off due to roads being washed out with the communities was hindered because of fallen telephone lines A saw mill owned by John Wilson on Canoe Creek east of here was badly damaged by the high wate Logs and boards from the mill were earned away and deposited by the flood waters on lawns far downstream On Fork Mountain north of hpre Gouge was rescued from his home by members of Mitchell County Sheriff Department Sunday morning A deputy said Gouge lost a car to the flood In Toecane community the double-wide mobile home (See WESTERN Page 10) asked to boil their drinking water as a precaution Scores of private bndges were washed away by the flood which Garrett Forbes 73 life-long resident of Red Hill community termed worst 1 saw here The water reached its highest point in most places at about 6am in Bakersville with water above creek banks flooding Henhne-Hughes Funeral Home several gasoline stations the Mitchell County Multi Purpose Child Development Center and other buildings Electric power was out in Mitchell and Yancey counties at various times throughout Saturday mght and yesterday By yesterday afternoon schools in Yancey County and Mitchell County had been canceled for today Avery County was more fortunate than some neighboring areas as sheriff officers reported all major roads intact and no bndges washed away water is receding now P-C Bakers ville Bureau BAKERS VILLE 10 hours of thunder and lightning accompanied by almost continuous rainfall left Mitchell and Yancey Counties- in Western North Carolina with what one resident called the worst flooding in more than 75 years yesterday The state reported eight persons killed from the raging waters which struck over the weekend Six of the dead were children Three teen-age boys died in Morganton from a rain-swollen Creek Two children and their mother died in Buncombe County west of Asheville when their mobile home was washed away and a Boone resident Mike Charles Townsend 28 drowned while attempting to cross flood waters near his home He reportedly fell from a footlog into the creek below Boone like many other neighboring towns reported sections of the city without water from disrupted water lines Some residents were which garbage is dumped for transportation to Bowser Ridge was built on 1 3 acres bought by the county from county Highway Supt Street for $9 000 The total cost of building the station was 31 10 376 Junior Stanley who operates a residential garbage collection service was awarded a three-year contract to operate tlie station for $17 950 yearly In addition Stanley was hired to haul garbage from the station to Bowser Ridge at $8 25 a ton with a daily guaranteed minimum of 30 tons The daily amount has never been that low At the opening of bids for the (See CARTER Page 10) citizens near the site sued At the same time Johnson City was planning a regional landfill at Bowser Ridge and Carter County began negotiating to use that facility Cooperation between Carter County and Elizabethton broke down after a 50-50 cost shanng proposal was submitted to City Council by County Court The council sued County Court county and city began hearing warnings from the State Department of Public Health that the Hoiston Mountain and Sugar Hollow dumps would not be tolerated because they did not meet health guidelines When it became clear that the warnings were real the two governments began searching in earnest for sites that would meet the rigid state standards Site after site for a landfill were submitted and turned down by state inspectors The seriousness of the problem was further illustrated when the city finally gained approval for a landfill in Blue Spnngs but was prohibited from using the land court order after P-C Elizabeth too Bureau EL1ZABETHTON Disposing of their garbage has cost the citizens of Elizabeth ton and Carter County more than a half million dollars in less than 16 months And because much of the available money must be earmarked for garbage disposal Carter Countians have been unable to have other desired projects The garbage woes began in full in July 1976 but the problem was here long before that time-Prior to July 1976 garbage from the county was being dumped on Hoiston Mountain Tbe city put its trash in a dump on Sugar Hollow About four years ago the Toccoa Georgia tragedyjon Page 17.