Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 7 · column 1 of 5 · from the scan, no model involved
Night came early on August 30, 1979. Storm clouds darkened the sky and lightning provided the only light in the hot, moonless night. By 8:00 it was pitch dark and rain fell in heavy sheets on the Rappahannock countryside.
Within an hour, local people knew that the already-swollen streams and rivers were not containing the deluge. Water started to spill over in low spots between Sperryville and Washington, in the low places in Sperryville, at Rock Mills, Slate Mills, in the F T Valley and towards Culpeper.
Worried people out for the evening headed home. It had been a good summer for gardens and orchards, with ample rain falling each week. The pansies and sweet peas flowered throughout August and apple growers expected a bumper crop. But the rain that had been so welcome in an area that usually worries about summer drought was to mark the face of the Rappahannock landscape more than any event since gigantic land movements pushed up the Blue Ridge Mountains thousands of years ago.
Along the highway, motorists stopped and waited, some all night, for waters to subside. When the rain stopped falling another danger was apparent: all along country roads, high winds and rushing water were toppling trees in the woods, in fields, and along roads, making travelling even more dangerous.
In Sperryville, along the highway and up in the river hollows, a hundred people left their homes and stood at high spots in the village, many of them seeking shelter at the Comer Store.
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