Swollen river recedes about a foot in Franklin as merchants take stock

Franklin business owners survey properties Wednesday while perched in a high-water truck provided by the Chesapeake Fire Department. It could be days until merchants are allowed in their buildings; water may not recede enough to allow for inspections until the weekend. (hyunsoo leo kim/the virginian-pilot)

By Dave Forster
The Virginian-Pilot

FRANKLIN - Janet M. Joyner waited anxiously on the banks of Franklin's flooded downtown Wednesday for a ride into the dark, polluted water.

She didn't know yet how her beauty shop, Janet's Touch of Style, had fared, but she was about to get an idea. A crew of Chesapeake firefighters with a high-water truck were giving tours of downtown for business owners - a dozen at a time - and Joyner was next in line.

"I don't have a livelihood right now," said Joyner, a lifelong Franklin resident who lost everything in her business after Hurricane Floyd in 1999. "I can't wait months to go back."

Most returned encouraged from their ride through the flooded downtown streets - a swath of real estate about six blocks long and two blocks wide. Most merchants had enough warning on Sunday to move their belongings to higher ground.

"We were lucky - dodged a bullet," Sion Carr said after he returned from his ride on the fire truck.

It could still be days before most merchants are allowed back in their buildings.

First, the water must recede enough for city crews to inspect the buildings, which might not happen until Saturday, said Capt. Tim Dunn of Franklin Fire and Rescue.

By Wednesday, the Blackwater River had receded a foot from Tuesday's crest in Franklin of about 18.3 feet, Dunn said.

Dozens of business owners waited for their tour Wednesday near a food and water station staffed by the city's downtown association.

A man from a cleaning company in Gloucester County dropped off his business cards, a gesture that didn't sit well with some of the locals.

His cards ended up in the trash.

The smell of fuel - from a kerosene and gasoline spill Monday at the S.W. Rawls petroleum depot downtown - still occasionally wafted by from the water's edge.

On Tuesday, the smell of fuel was so strong that "you'd be almost afraid to light a match out here," said Pam Ellis, one of the downtown association members who was helping business owners.

City officials estimated Wednesday that 53 or more businesses might have suffered flood damage, lowering their previous estimate of 123.

Also, about 35 homes might have taken water, though the damage is expected to be minimal in about half of those cases, Dunn said.

The flood likely damaged about 3 million pounds of shelled peanuts at Birdsong Peanuts, manager Charles Birdsong said. It might be three to four weeks before the warehouse reopens, he said.

The flooding in Franklin began after heavy rain from a nor'easter drenched the region over the weekend.

After the river fully recedes from downtown there will be quite a mess, said Chad Sexton, a manager with Atlantic Heating and Plumbing, a Virginia beach plumbing company, which has offered to donate its help to clean the city afterward.

"You're going to see a whole lot of raw sewage," Sexton said. "Just a nasty sludge is going to be everywhere."