COURTLAND, Va. (WAVY) — The Franklin-Southampton County Fair was scheduled to kick off Wednesday and continue through Aug. 10, but after straight-line winds damaged the Southampton County Fairgrounds, fair organizers canceled the event.
Every year volunteers and nearly 30 board members work tirelessly to organize over 50 local vendors, livestock shows, and performances with country music artists, yet three days before the fair, an intense thunderstorm with straight-line winds caused significant damage at the Southampton County Fairgrounds around 6:03 p.m. Sunday night.
According to the National Weather Service, “an area of intense thunderstorm straight line winds began south of the Southampton County Fairgrounds and snapped several trees. The winds also picked up large tree limbs and blew them up to 100 feet away and caused extensive damage to a couple of wooden outbuildings in the fairgrounds. The outbuilding roofs completely collapsed and the walls sustained significant damage. The path of straight line winds continued to the north and blew open an overhead door of a metal building on the north side of the fairgrounds. The winds then snapped a few more trees near the VDOT Franklin Yard, and along the south side of New Market Road. Peak wind gusts at the fairgrounds were estimated at 80-90 mph.”
About an hour after the storm, Franklin-Southampton County Fair organizers announced the fair would be canceled this year.
LeeAnn Williams, a board member with the Franklin-Southampton County Fair, was at the Queen’s County Fair Pageant during the storm. However, about 10 people were at the fairgrounds preparing the rides and livestock areas.
“They heard it coming,” Williams said. “It came through the trees. Luckily, they could hear it and had time to run because they were standing out there by those rides. Several [people] watched it come through, pick up our concession stands, twirl it and set it back down. It was very terrifying to be on the fairgrounds, but we were very blessed that it could have been so much worse if it had been fair time.”
Neil Clark with Virginia Cooperative Extension—Virginia Tech and Virginia State University was on the grounds inside of horticulture building.
“I was in this building setting up,” Clark said. “This is usually where we have row crops [like] vegetables, cut flower arrangements and other horticulture exhibits. I was here trying to get the building prepped for when the rain started.”
Clark said he pulled up the WAVY weather radar to track the storm.
“Looking at the radar … thankfully, y’all have a great weather system there,” Clark said. “Looking at your radar coming in, it somewhat looks like a thunderstorm that we’ve had. You know, we’ve had thunderstorms periodically in the summertime, frequently. The rain started, and then, of course, it got harder, then almost instantaneous. That was very quick. The winds went from winds that you expect to extreme. I’ve never seen a 12-18-inch-[wide] pine tree almost turned 45 degrees. They were like a fishing pole. … It went way over.”
Similar to Williams and countless others on social media, Clark is grateful no one was hurt.
“I’m very thankful that this did not happen during the fair, when there would be hundreds [or] thousands of people standing out there,” Clark said.
The grounds house several buildings that are rented weekly for the sheriff’s office, schools, weddings and family reunions.
“Just looking at the devastation, it was a lot of tears,” Williams said. “Every night, we sit around, cry a little bit and then say, ‘How are we going to make it better?'”
Several youth and civic groups work at the annual fair to raise money and fundraise. Clark said many organizations will likely move their fundraiser to a different location or online.
“Everybody loves to come get a funnel cake and cotton candy, right? You can’t do that virtually,” Clark said.
This Thursday, there will be a fundraiser, in which they will sell some of the food that they would have sold right here.
“The good Lord saved us,” Williams said. “We’re all OK. We’re not going to have a fair this year, but next year we’ll be back big and strong. I truly believe that.”
This Thursday, the Western Tidewater Wrestling Club will host fundraiser to sell Boston butts for $30, with proceeds going to the Franklin-Southampton County Fair. Pickup will be at the Franklin-Southampton County Fairgrounds.