The Maury River has a history of destructive floods damaging nearby communities. Particularly notable were floods on October 12, 1870, on the death of Robert E. Lee, when the Maury River provided Lee a temporary coffin due to a dock washed away upriver; and in 1936, 1969, 1985 and 1995. The Flood of '69 was the result of rainfall from the inland movement of Hurricane Camille. The Flood of '85 resulted from the convergence of three systems, including Hurricane Juan, which dumped tremendous amounts of rain on western Virginia. The flood of record for the lower Maury River (downstream of the confluence with the South River) including Buena Vista and Glasgow occurred on August 20, 1969, at a stage of on the Buena Vista gauge (flooding begins at and major flooding at . The downtowns of Buena Vista and Glasgow were submerged in over of water. The upper Maury River including Lexington saw its flood of record during the Flood of 1985 when the gauging station at Rockbridge Baths recorded a value of from flood marks. The difference in flooding results from differing contributions of the South River depending on rainfall in the respective watersheds.