Photos by JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

A gravel side road connecting to Moutain Lake Road at Mountain Lake in Giles County was washed out by recent rains. Although snow is in the forecast for today and tomorrow, no rain is expected, allowing the snow to melt gradually.

The Community Animal Hospital in Dublin was using bottled water for its procedures because the Pulaski County water treatment plant was temporarily shut down earlier this week.

| Shawna Morrison

shawna.morrison@roanoke.com, 381-1665

Just as the New River Valley is beginning to recover from flooding caused by recent rainfall and melting snow, more snow is in the forecast.

But as long as there isn't a major change in the weather pattern, the more than 6 inches of snow expected today and Saturday won't add to the problem, said Dennis Sleighter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Blacksburg.

"This weekend event won't contribute directly to flooding," he said Thursday. "What we'll need to watch is how quickly the snow melts."

This week's flooding, which sent mud and debris not only down steep embankments into roadways but also into the Pulaski County water treatment plant, causing it to temporarily shut down, was caused when rainfall combined with piles of snow that were left on the ground from a major snowstorm more than a month ago.

But no rain is in the forecast for the next several days, Sleighter said, and predicted temperatures -- low 20s Saturday, high 20s Sunday, 30s Monday and Tuesday and 40s Wednesday -- should allow the snow to melt gradually.

"We don't anticipate any flooding," Lt. Brian Wright with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office said. Citing the forecast, he said he hoped the snow will melt slowly enough to gradually seep into the ground.

"It's usually slow runoff" when only snow falls, Elliston Fire Chief Pug Wells said. "However, if you get accumulation like we had last month and then get rain on top of it," that can lead to problems.

Flooding at Claytor Lake, the Pulaski County Public Service Authority's water source, sent mud and debris into the water treatment plant and led the county to stop sending out water Tuesday.

The plant was back in operation the next day and residents were asked to boil their water through Thursday.

Assistant County Administrator Robert Hiss said Thursday he isn't overly concerned that this weekend's expected snowstorm will cause a similar problem. He noted that the plant wasn't affected by more than a foot of snow that fell in December. But this week, several factors combined to cause the flooding.

"We had all that snow and all that ice at Buck Dam melting, and then we got 2 to 3 inches of rain," he said.

The flooding this week also caused several roads in Montgomery, Pulaski and Giles counties to be closed after they became covered in standing water or were blocked by mudslides.

Pulaski Fire Marshal Chip Hutchinson said he saw water in places in he had never seen it before. County roads near the New River were covered in water, but so were some roads in the town of Pulaski.

New River Valley roads affected by the flooding have been reopened, said Heidi Underwood, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation. But in Franklin, Bedford and Botetourt counties, major work is still needed to repair some roads and bridges that were damaged.

The same people who have been working to repair them will be the ones responsible for clearing snow this weekend, she said.

"We're going to have to respond to this next emergency before we can complete all repairs," she said.