Fifty Years Ago Today, Hurricane Camille Nearly Demolished Neighboring Nelson County

Bechtol's book is almost impossible to put down.

Back in 1969, in the aftermath of headline news about the Woodstock festival in rural New York, the most devastating tropical storm ever to visit Virginia poured untold amounts of rainfall just across the Blue Ridge Mountains from us. Whole sides of mountains collapsed, and the downpour was such that it would forever change the landscape and the lives of Nelson County residents.

A highway marker offers a succinct summary of the tragedy.

Many of my friends, including members of the Old Order Mennonite community, gave weeks of their time as volunteers with Mennonite Disaster Service, helping to clear debris, look for the missing and dead and eventually to begin to rebuild. In gratitude for their work, the director of the funeral home in Lovingston donated their historic horse drawn hearse to one of the Old Order groups, one still in use today for their funeral services.

Here's a link to a full account of the tragedy of Camille
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Camille

Camille reminds us of death, but of resurrection as well. A scene at a Pleasant View Old Order funeral.