1985 Courtland vs Orange Flood bowl

[skynard1]

I've been watching HS football since I played in the early sixtys and I have never seen anything like it. My son and I will never forget this game played at porterfield park in orange. Two tropical storms passed through the area that weekend and the game was postponed from Friday night to Saturday and finally played Monday night in a monsoon.
Things to notice: water on sidelines and field knee deep. We had to stand up on the top of bleachers to keep the rushing water away. The band and fans had to vacate one section of bleachers to get away from the water. Some kids were jumping off the bleachers in the water like a swimming pool. The baseball end of the field was covered in water knee deep and water was rushing over the brick wall at porterfield like a dam . You will see Maurice Smith run a TD in that end of the field with water up to his knees and if someone had tackled him on a pile of players they may have drowned under the pyle as it was dangerous. Today a game would never be played under these conditions! JUST WATCH!

 

[71ShadesofNavy]

Now that is some dedicated fans. Holy cow! Thanks for this cool post.

 

[Virginiahssports]

That field had to be destroyed for that season after that

 

[shauntclair]

I've been watching HS football since I played in the early sixtys and I have never seen anything like it. My son and I will never forget this game played at porterfield park in orange. Two tropical storms passed through the area that weekend and the game was postponed from Friday night to Saturday and finally played Monday night in a monsoon.
Things to notice: water on sidelines and field knee deep. We had to stand up on the top of bleachers to keep the rushing water away. The band and fans had to vacate one section of bleachers to get away from the water. Some kids were jumping off the bleachers in the water like a swimming pool. The baseball end of the field was covered in water knee deep and water was rushing over the brick wall at porterfield like a dam . You will see Maurice Smith run a TD in that end of the field with water up to his knees and if someone had tackled him on a pile of players they may have drowned under the pyle as it was dangerous. Today a game would never be played under these conditions! JUST WATCH!

Now, that was cool and unique. Thank you. Funny part is, Cougars run close to the same offense today.

 

[skynard1]

Now that is some dedicated fans. Holy cow! Thanks for this cool post.

yes and in those days the city of orange owned and had control of the field and was against playing on a rainy field but was forced to let orange use it! one of my favorite stadiums to play at along with maury stadium in Fredericksburg! no longer called Porterfield park since named after long time hall of fame coach Paul Sizemore! now called Paul Sizemore park! boy James Monroe and orange had some battles their over the years for a battlefield dist. crowns! brings back some old memories. this game is a classic and I hope everyone enjoys this game!

 

[Virginiahssports]

yes and in those days the city of orange owned and had control of the field and was against playing on a rainy field but was forced to let orange use it! one of my favorite stadiums to play at along with maury stadium in Fredericksburg! no longer called Porterfield park since named after long time hall of fame coach Paul Sizemore! now called Paul Sizemore park! boy James Monroe and orange had some battles their over the years for a battlefield dist. crowns! brings back some old memories. this game is a classic and I hope everyone enjoys this game!

One of the worst "stadiums" in the state.

 

[og charger]

Disagree OCBoy. I love to watch a game at Porterfield. Still has the old design before tracks and fences. Right on the field. The only complaint is the lack of restrooms.

 

[Virginiahssports]

Disagree OCBoy. I love to watch a game at Porterfield. Still has the old design before tracks and fences. Right on the field. The only complaint is the lack of restrooms.

That place is a great place to watch a baseball game but not a football game. They need serious help in updating that place

 

[NNDman]

Some brief tidbits (after researching this game): like Skynard said it was ppd from Friday to Monday due to "wet field conditions" at Porterfield; Orange had 2 first downs and 6 yards total offense; Courtland did not throw a pass; Orange completed 1-of-8 passes for zero yards; the win clinched the Battlefield title for Courtland which completed an unbeaten regular season four nights later with a 34-14 win over Culpeper; Courtland went on to win the Group AA state title and complete a perfect season with a 13-10 win in the championship game over Blacksburg.

 

[shauntclair]

Watched a similar Courtland game in 2007 against Caroline @ Caroline. A monsoon and a flooded field. Sidelines were ankle deep at the lowest point. Here's a picture I found in the FLS.

Caroline vs Courtlandhttp://freelancestar.mycapture.com/mycapture/enlarge.asp?image=16634386&event=361232&CategoryID=8914

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Can you find any pictures of "snow" games, Shaunty?

 

[shauntclair]

Can you find any pictures of "snow" games, Shaunty?

Not too many in my experience. Nothing memorable. At least at the HS level. But I have to admit to some really, really cold games. I think Courtland/Powhatan 2007 was the coldest HS game I ever attended. I was bundled for an Arctic environment and still froze my butt off. Even I couldn't get through the last quarter and had a kid in the game to boot. COLD!

 

[DinwiddieProud]

Darn, must have been miserable. Thanks.

 

[cutnjump]

Thanks Skynard for the post and video!! Hopefully someone that actually played in the game will see the thread and expand. I am sure there are some great stories from the field that night from players, coaches and refs.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

I agree cut. Anybody that was there has to have strong memories of that night. Not one you would ever forget.

 

[71ShadesofNavy]

The coldest hs game I have ever watched was the state final at va tech when phoebus played dinwiddie. Freezing and windy. The coldest game i ever played in was 1982 pulaski vs. Ph game at Pulaski. I thought someone told me it was -20 at game time, but the weather almanac says -10. To make matters worse the Pulaski fans threw cold drinks on us as we came down the steps before the game. Damn i loved that rivalry.

 

[mmqp]

Were these the same tropical storms that put Buchanan and Buena Vista along with most of Western Virginia under water?

 

[SpartanOfYore]

Were these the same tropical storms that put Buchanan and Buena Vista along with most of Western Virginia under water?

I would say so. November 4, 1985 - the day of the epic flood in the Roanoke Valley. At the time, I worked at Rowe Furniture in Salem, about 400 yards from the Roanoke River. Our parking lot was half a mile from the front door; they ran buses to the lot in the morning and at quitting time. Around 1:00, management finally figured out they'd better run the bus to the lot, to let people get out of there. About fifteen more minutes, and it would have been too late. My Honda Prelude, with the water well up the doors, felt like like a little motor boat puttering up to the main road. The whole facility, plant and office, got almost eighteen inches of water inside. The next few weeks were a nightmare of cleanup, followed by months of renovation. Lucky though, compared to lots of other places and people.

Can't imagine playing a game in that!

 

[SpartanOfYore]

Also underscores what was said by Matt G., I believe, back during the heavy rains in early October - postponing a game until Monday is practically never a good idea.

 

[mmqp]

My family and I lived in Buchanan at the time. My memories are vague to say the least considering I was only 3 at the time.

We lived on aptly named Lowe Street and I'm sure we had to evacuate pretty early on. I do remember bits and pieces of the night spent at the Fire House there in town. There were many, many people there that night. I remember at some point lights going out and everyone walking around with lighters and flashlights..I vaguely remember thinking it was Halloween. I then remember waking up the next morning in my Mothers arms and seeing my Dad looking out the window watching the mighty James River...to this day my Mom talks about them seeing a house floating down the river that morning with smoke still billowing from the chimney.

I guess at some point we were able to drive out of Buchanan that day because my memories then switch to coming into Buena Vista. All I remember is mud. Thick mud. Tons of mud on Main Street.

I think we got about 4 feet of water in our place. I lost all my outside toys though because Mom didnt take them in since they were muddy...

 

[mikesalem]

Were these the same tropical storms that put Buchanan and Buena Vista along with most of Western Virginia under water?

I was in Rustburg during the historic floods of late '85, we had just moved there in June, I was 11. What was later called a 500 year storm stretched through most parts of Central and Western Va. It also affected places further East in Va because the James runs from Buchanan, through Lynchburg, Richmond, etc, on its way to the Chesapeake Bay. Flooding along the Roanoke River affected downtown Roanoke, Salem, etc, and other places as it worked its way to the Atlantic Ocean through Eastern NC.

It is also known as the Election Day Flood of '85, and the death toll and flooding was even worse in West Virginia. I believe all tolled the flood claimed the lives of 62 people.

Pictures of downtown Roanoke, Victory Stadium, Roanoke Memorial Hospital:
http://m.wdbj7.com/weather/election-day-flood-of-1985/22796168

Short video clip:
http://m.wdbj7.com/video/a-look-back-at-the-flood-of-1985/35584422

 

[DinwiddieProud]

I've always been fascinated by the Nelson County flood in 1969. I've read virtually everything that was written about that disaster. The single most descriptive thing I've ever heard about a weather phenomenon came from an elderly lady about that night. She said just remember the hardest you have ever seen it rain in your life. And you always knew it would let up in a few minutes. She said that is how hard it rained at her house in Nelson County that night, "for 6 1/2 hours without letup". "The air was so heavy with moisture that you were choking trying to get your breath", she stated.

I don't recall how bad the flood was in Roanoke or Salem that year, but I very vividly remember the floods along the James and Appomattox. Equally amazing and tragic at the same time.

 

[mikesalem]

I've always been fascinated by the Nelson County flood in 1969. I've read virtually everything that was written about that disaster. The single most descriptive thing I've ever heard about a weather phenomenon came from an elderly lady about that night. She said just remember the hardest you have ever seen it rain in your life. And you always knew it would let up in a few minutes. She said that is how hard it rained at her house in Nelson County that night, "for 6 1/2 hours without letup". "The air was so heavy with moisture that you were choking trying to get your breath", she stated.

I don't recall how bad the flood was in Roanoke or Salem that year, but I very vividly remember the floods along the James and Appomattox. Equally amazing and tragic at the same time.

I wasn't born when the remnants of Camille came through in 1969 stalling over Nelson Co and dumping 27+ inches of rain. (That was the official amount, some estimates put the unofficial total closer to 40 inches) Certain parts of Nelson Co received 5 inches of rain in 30 minutes.

One of my favorite places to go, where my dad would take us once a year or so, was Crabtree Falls in Nelson Co. I read about the historic nature of the flash flooding and massive landslides on one of the markers on the side of the road near Massie's Mill. I've always loved waterfalls and I have a fascination with hurricanes. In this instance, the 2 came together at Crabtree Falls.

I remember taking my family there for the first time, I carried both my son, who was 3 at the time and my daughter, who was 1, over half way up when they got tired of walking. It's one of my fondest memories of their childhood. We had a picnic in the grass before we headed up, we saw a timber rattlesnake 3 feet off the trail on the way up, and the falls were unusually full from heavy spring rains.

My love of waterfalls led me to 12 states in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic seeing hundreds of them in the time before I became disabled. I know this is a football forum and I'm way off topic, but those were good times. I have many pictures in my room and in my Facebook albums to commemorate those times.

 

[mmqp]

You can still see the scars of the flood of '69 when you drive through Nelson County along route 29. The landslide remains are very obvious when you look at the mountains.

One of the saddest stories I've ever heard about that flood was the two brothers over in Nelson who lost their entire family and clung to trees the entire night. Their story was run on WSLS and WDBJ back in 2009 during the 40th anniversary of that disaster.

There is another story that you do not hear too often unless you're from the Lexington/BV area about a family in the County there that who took refuge in their barn because they thought the waters would wash their house away first. They put their youngest daughter up on a big hay bale, and unfortunately the waters ended up washing them and their barn away. That little girl clung to that hay bale down the river and survived. The rest of her family did not. My Mother went to school with one of those family members. She's pointed that little girl out to me in stores from time to time.

As amazing as it may sound, the emotional scars of the flood of '69 still remain in those areas.

 

[AMHERST #1]

I've always been fascinated by the Nelson County flood in 1969. I've read virtually everything that was written about that disaster. The single most descriptive thing I've ever heard about a weather phenomenon came from an elderly lady about that night. She said just remember the hardest you have ever seen it rain in your life. And you always knew it would let up in a few minutes. She said that is how hard it rained at her house in Nelson County that night, "for 6 1/2 hours without letup". "The air was so heavy with moisture that you were choking trying to get your breath", she stated.

I don't recall how bad the flood was in Roanoke or Salem that year, but I very vividly remember the floods along the James and Appomattox. Equally amazing and tragic at the same time.

I do a lot of work in Nelson an have heard some unbelievable story of that night. Buddy of mine mom grew up in piney river. Said that night they climbed up side of mountain an had to sit with hands cupped over mouth an all night they heard people screaming as they washed by.


Another guy said over in Buckingham said a friend came an got him the next morning said you got see this they went to where the tye dumped into the James an so much water was coming out of the tye that the James had quit flowing an was backing up.[/QUOTE]

 

[mmqp]

I do a lot of work in Nelson an have heard some unbelievable story of that night. Buddy of mine mom grew up in piney river. Said that night they climbed up side of mountain an had to sit with hands cupped over mouth an all night they heard people screaming as they washed by.


Another guy said over in Buckingham said a friend came an got him the next morning said you got see this they went to where the tye dumped into the James an so much water was coming out of the tye that the James had quit flowing an was backing up.

[/QUOTE]

That's amazing. I'm just trying to picture that in my mind.

I've heard the stories of people having to cup their mouths just to be able to breath before. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to go through something so traumatic.

To tie this into football a little bit, Nelson County still fielded a team that season even with everything that had happened.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

I guess Rod will forgive us for wandering away from football, but this time of year I guess it's tolerated.

With respect to the Nelson County flood, I recall that several bodies were never identified. I remember that they theorized that a few of the victims had shared the same food before they died. This led to the assumption that they were a migrant family that were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

At the same time as the flood, satellite photographs were being taken of the continental US. The one that includes the James River was taken when the tremendous flood waters were making there way to the Chesapeake Bay. This photograph was very popular and can, or could have been, seen in magazines and museums for years. The James a River was yellowish green from Richmond to the Bay.

This pales in comparison to the loss of life and property, but this tremendous volume of flood water hastened the decline of oysters in the lower James and in the Bay. The silt and pollutants, along with the phenomenal amount of fresh water, started the downward spiral that eventually led to a near total collapse of the oyster population in the Bay. Two diseases that later became a nightmare for the oyster population got a good start during this time period. I would be remiss if I didn't point out that a "reinforcing shot" of silt laden fresh water hastened the oyster problem in 1972, as a result of Hurricane Agnes.

Back to the sports aspect of these two events, I wonder if any of you remember how high school football was affected. I would imagine that you three, Mike, mmqp, and Amherst, may have heard more stories, or can actually ask your connections if they remember any specifics. Certainly Nelson county must have had major interruptions to their athletics. I wonder if any of the lost souls in Nelson were football players?

mmqp, I have read the account of the child that survived, and the family that was swept away, many times. I hope the woman you spoke of is still alive today, and has continued to make the best life for herself that she could.

I stopped at the store that I think was at Massies Mill years ago. I wanted to talk with the people that were in there about "that night". But, I figured they would think I was just another outsider being nosy. I just bough a Coke and went on my way.

Mike, there was one very reliable measurement of 37" of rain. Almost indisputable, but not a scientific measurement. Consequently it is relegated to a footnote. Another reason the measurement of 27" is accepted as the "official" amount is because, at that time, that was about the theoretical maximum that meteorological science believed was possible in a 24 hour period. To make this even more amazing is the fact that most of this torrential rainfall occurred in about six hours.

Hey, I would love to hear about the affect on high school sports during this event, and Hurricane Agnes, if anyone can dig anything up.

 

[mmqp]

Fascinating post Dinwiddie! It made me get the urge to google the pics of that catastrophe again.

Surprisingly, football was not cancelled at any school in the area. Lexington, PM, Natural Bridge, Rockbridge, Amherst and Nelson County all played full slates as far as I know that season.

PM struggled mightily, finishing with two wins in what was their very last season in the Valley District. Lexington rolled. Natural Bridge played well as well but was nowhere near the level as Lexington. Rockbridge was, well, Rockbridge.

Amherst struggled the most it appears. I'm missing one score fro the season for them, but the other 9 games were all losses, including a 6-0 loss to PM.

Nelson County is the school I have the least amount of scores for. But all 3 were wins, surprisingly. Still a lot of research to do for both schools though.

Speaking of Nelson County, floods, etc, etc.. NCHS was formed by the consolidation of Lovingston High and a small little school in the most ravaged town in the state during the '69 flood, Massies Mill. The school was named Fleetwood. Both schools played football during the 1950's.

 

[DinwiddieProud]

"Torn Land" was the first book that was written about the flood. It has been out of print for many, many, years. In fact, I decided to re-read it, but I can't check it out from our local library. It seems they only have access to a single copy that is restricted for use in the research room of the library. Amazon shows this book starting at something like $773.00. I wish I had bought a copy back when.

I'm amazed that so few Virginians know the story of this event. It was a titanic event that was basically unprecedented in US history.

 

[AMHERST #1]

I've often looked online for info on this storm this is definitely the best I've ever seen
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...les-deadly-dlood-in-the-blue-ridge-mountains/
Some pictures I've never seen can not find on of the most impressive though it is a areal where rt 6 runs into rt29 an the rockfish river

Also some pics


https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/library_of_virginia/sets/72157631101613776/