Rains spark fears that Va. dam will fail, 13 homes evacuated

By The Associated Press
May 21, 2020 | 8:46 AM

ROANOKE, Va. — People living in 13 homes in southwestern Virginia have received an evacuation order because a dam may fail from heavy rains.

The Roanoke Times reported Thursday that the homes are in southwest Roanoke and near the Spring Valley Dam. The dam forms a creek-fed lake called Spring Valley Lake.

People living downstream received phone calls from the city. But the city said that Roanoke Fire-EMS personnel also went door to door.

Roanoke’s Stormwater Utility’s online precipitation app said the area has received 7.6 inches of rain since Tuesday.

Va. health dept. improves nursing home inspection backlog, reforms sanction criteria for facilities

By Virginia Mercury
August 22, 2026 | 8:37 PM

Stories of neglect in care or unsanitary living situations have plagued several of Virginia’s nursing home facilities in recent years and data backs up a lapse in oversight by state agencies. With reform efforts underway, the Virginia Department of Health officials said they aim to adopt sanction criteria by the end of the year to rein in bad actors and get troubled facilities back on track. As of July, 58% of Virginia’s nursing homes were overdue for inspections and 68 of Virginia’s 289 nursing homes were found to have serious deficiencies, according to ProPublica. Several of the state’s flagged facilities with numerous deficiencies also had high staffing turnover rates. The issue has been salient among various healthcare spaces, including VDH.

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