By Staff and Wire Reports

By Staff and Wire Reports

RICHMOND — After the James River receded rapidly into its banks, work crews Sunday removed debris and mud left by last week’s flood, and damage assessment teams fanning the flood plain found less devastation than anticipated.

“The damage doesn’t appear to be as extensive as we feared,” said Ken Jones, city director of risk management. The State Office of Emergency Services has estimated the cost at $100 million.

The James returned to normal Saturday, with water levels below flood stage. The water receded faster than anticipated.

A damage assessment team was comprised of 57 members, who split up into seven areas to evaluate damage to buildings, equipment, public property and roads, as well as the estimated cleanup costs.

Janet Clements, a spokeswoman for the emergency agency, has said she expects the damage to irival past floods and top $100 million in cost.

Nearly $4 million worth of damage was caused in Gloucester and Middlesex counties by the storm, and officials in Mathews County were assessing damage to determine whether they will seek disaster status.

Floods Hurt farms

Most of Virginia’s crops had been harvested by the time heavy rains and flood waters ravaged the countryside last week, but agricultural officials said Friday that farms still incurred millions of dollars in damage.

The officials were grateful, however, that the destructive rains came when they did.

“Six weeks ago, we would have sustained astronomical agricultural damages in the state of Virginia due to this type of flooding,” said Lowell Gobble, Roanoke County extension agent.

The hardest-hit commodity appeared to be com, which was still in the fields in several counties when high winds and pounding rain battered what wasn’t annihilated by swollen streams.