Flooding
Because the Blackwater River drains a large area of southern Virginia east of the fall line, when heavy rainfall occurs throughout the area, severe flooding occasionally occurs at several points as the large volume of water flows downstream. Critical points of such flooding have been near Zuni along U.S. Route 460, and in the independent city of Franklin, which borders Southampton County and Isle of Wight County. Unlike the marshy areas upstream, at these points the river's channel is limited, and flood stages can be reached very quickly. This occurred during Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and again in October 2006, after an unnamed Nor'-Easter storm dumped 10 inches (25 cm) of rain on the region.
Read more about this topic: Blackwater River (Virginia)