What you are seeing is not a river flooding its banks. It is the James River that flows through Richmond, and one of the canals built alongside the river to transport barges in the 19th century. I'm afraid I couldn't get any closer because the land approaching the river was very steep and I was walking by myself. I could just see myself slipping or stepping into a rabbit hole and that would be the end of all my summer plans. So I used my camera's zoom to present you with this bit of history.
Here's a bit of background on the canal from Wikipedia:
Personally surveyed and planned by George Washington himself, the canal was begun in 1785 under the James River Company, and later restarted under the James River and Kanawha Canal Company. It was only half completed by 1851. It was an expensive project which failed several times financially and was frequently damaged by floods. By the time it was halted, it had only reached Buchanan, in Botetourt County, Virginia, even though it was largely financed by the Commonwealth of Virginia through the Virginia Board of Public Works. When work to extend the canal further west stopped permanently, railroads were overtaking the canal as a far more productive mode of transportation.
