Photos by Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Laura Helms photographs flooding on Yellow Sulphur Road in Christiansburg. Flooding along portions of the partly paved road forced Helms and her daughter Logan (left) to take an alternative route home on Wednesday afternoon.

Patsy McCoy surveys the flooding around her Christiansburg home, where heavy rain closed portions of several roads Wednesday.

About 10 roads in Montgomery, Pulaski and Giles counties had weather-forced closings Wednesday afternoon.

CHRISTIANSBURG -- More than an inch of rain fell in less than an hour in parts of Montgomery County on Wednesday, leading to flash flooding, washouts and traffic problems.

With more showers possible overnight and expected throughout today, the problem will probably get worse, said William Perry, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg.

"The problem was a narrow band that extended from Blacksburg to Riner, and it just kind of hung over the same area for about 30 minutes to an hour," Perry said. "They just got dumped on."

NWS meteorologist Jan Jackson said the thunderstorms and showers died down somewhat after sunset, and although evening flood watches remained in place, he didn't expect further rainfall to arrive until this afternoon and evening.

"We do have an additional threat" today, he added. "We still have this moist air mass, an almost tropical air mass."

Jackson said the peak period for precipitation would probably be between 2 and 8 p.m. in both the Roanoke and New River valleys.

According to Perry, some areas got as much as an inch an hour Wednesday.

Crab Creek, which runs through the Cambria section of Christiansburg, is probably the biggest flood concern, Perry said.

The rains will probably taper off tonight, with only a 20 percent chance of rain Friday, Perry said, giving the area a chance to dry out over the weekend.

"If we can get past these next 36 hours we should be OK," Perry said Wednesday afternoon.

About 10 roads in Montgomery, Pulaski and Giles counties had weather-forced closings between 3 and 5 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Parts of Yellow Sulphur Road, a partially paved road running from Blacksburg to Christiansburg, were washed out Wednesday afternoon.

The flooding has gotten worse in the past three or four years, said Laura Helms, who has lived there for about 15 years.

"At least three or four times a year we get a call from transport saying we have to take the kids or pick them up from school," Helms said Wednesday while taking photos of the washed-out road.

"I don't know what's making it get worse over the past couple of years, but this is probably the worst I've seen."

Helms planned to take the photos to the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors in an effort to have the road paved. She said the supervisors and VDOT have looked at the area before, but ultimately told residents there wasn't money for paving.

Flooding is getting to be "old hat," at Brown and Montgomery streets in Cambria, said Daniel Caldwell, whose yard flooded Wednesday afternoon.

During other recent rains, Caldwell's car, a 2007 Honda Civic, was moved about 20 feet and nearly totaled by fast-moving floodwater.

"There's nothing you can do about it," Caldwell said. "You can't blame the town because when Mother Nature strikes, there's not a thing you can do."

Neighbor Andrew McCoy disagrees.

McCoy said the flooding worsened after a group of houses was built on a nearby hill within the past few years.

"There was a little problem, but nothing like this," McCoy said. "They built a retention pond, but it don't hold nothing."

Fence panels, shrubs, mulch and concrete pavers washed out of McCoy's yard during rains earlier this month and Wednesday.

"This is the worst I've ever seen it, and we've lived here 31 years," said Theresa Hixson, who lives across the street. Hixson's house sits on a hill, so it was dry late Wednesday, but she planned to keep an eye on her basement.

Area waterproofing companies have been flooded with calls from frantic homeowners whose basements are saturated from heavy rain.

In the past three weeks, Danny Riggins of Snyder Waterproofing in Blacksburg has inspected at least 60 houses with reports of leaky or flooded basements, mostly in the New River Valley.

The main culprits?

"The gutters weren't cleaned out and prepared for this kind of rain," Riggins said.

A "drastic increase" in calls about flooded basements began for Keith Martin, manager of Sure-Dri in Roanoke County, on May 7.

Since then, he has sent crews to the New River Valley, Smith Mountain Lake and Lynchburg. His company, which installs water proofing and water management systems, has finished some jobs, but more are scheduled. Martin expects to be fixing wet basements through the end of June.

Still, not everyone's paying to have a leaky basement fixed. Despite the floodwaters, some homeowners are holding off because they don't have the money, Martin said. That includes someone who may be standing in two inches of water.

"A wet basement can be dealt with once or twice a year, but they still need to make their car payment," he said.

The New River Valley has been much harder hit this month by heavy rain and damaging floods.

As of Wednesday, Blacksburg's total rainfall was 7.87 inches, which is 4.18 inches above the average for this point in May, according to the National Weather Service.

So far this year, Blacksburg has had 20.99 inches of rain -- 3.25 inches above normal.

In Roanoke, there was 5.66 inches of rain this month, which is above average.

Still, total rainfall for the year in Roanoke is below average, at 16.27 inches. The normal total for this time of the year is 17.35 inches.

Staff writer Neil Harvey contributed to this report.