JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

A portion of Ripplemead Road is covered in water Monday after the New River swelled over its banks in Giles County.

JARED SOARES The Roanoke Times

The Roanoke River rages near the greenway adjacent to the River's Edge Sports Complex on Monday afternoon, but officials said the river stayed within the bench cuts made as part of the Army Corps of Engineers flood-reduction project. The National Weather Service said the river spilled over in spots.

Western Virginia rivers, muddy and swollen from heavy rains, gave local and state officials fits on Monday as they flooded roads, caused landslides and even stranded a handful of motorists.

No injuries or deaths had been reported as of Monday night, but scores of secondary roads were impassable and school systems, including Franklin and Bedford counties, canceled classes because of the flooding.

"I've seen water today in places that I haven't seen water before," Pulaski Fire Marshal Chip Hutchinson said.

A farm off Robinson Tract Road "looked like a lake," he said. Water not only crossed roads in Allisonia and other communities near the New River and Claytor Lake, but also in the middle of Pulaski.

Wesley Woodyard with the Giles Lifesaving and Rescue Squad said that rockslides temporarily closed a number of roads in Newport, Narrows and Pearisburg.

A landslide also closed a section of Friendship Road in Shawsville, said Lt. Brian Wright with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.

Rockbridge County officials carried out voluntary evacuations of communities near the Maury and Smith rivers.

"A lot of these people have been through floods before," said Robert Foresman, the county's emergency management coordinator.

The National Weather Service reported the Roanoke River spilled over its banks in spots, but in Roanoke it crested at the Walnut Street bridge at 9.89 feet at 3:15 p.m., just below the 10-foot flood stage, according to Roanoke City Engineer Phil Schirmer.

"Because everything is saturated at this point, any precipitation will cause runoff," Schirmer said. "If we get a whole bunch tonight, you'll see it rise up pretty quickly."

Even if it had reached flood stage, the Roanoke River still would have been a couple of feet below the top level of bench cuts made as part of the Army Corps of Engineers flood-reduction project, Schirmer said.

"This is exactly the kind of event these improvements were designed for," Schirmer said.

He said the flooding did affect work to replace the low-water bridge in Wasena Park.

River Road (Virginia 639) in Roanoke County was impassable much of Monday because of floodwaters. It was reopened late Monday night.

"It's a low spot that we typically have trouble with when we have a lot of rain," Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman Heidi Underwood said.

In Salem, Mill Lane bridge, which carries the street across the river just north of Riverside Drive, was shut down about 7 a.m. and reopened at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Salem spokesman Mike Stevens said parts of West Riverside were also closed because of flooding but said the street had recently been closed anyway for water department work.

He said that officials had not been called to address flooding issues at The Riverwalk Apartments or any of the low-lying trailer parks in Salem.

High waters affected parts of Salem's greenway, which is still under construction, but Stevens said those sections had been damaged during November's flooding and had yet to be repaired.

Staff writers Neil Harvey and Rex Bowman contributed to this report.

shawna.morrison@roanoke.com 381-1665

mason.adams@roanoke.com 981-3253