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Six inches of rain in three hours washes away lake road |
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Tuesday, 21 July 2009 |
Torrential downpours Monday caused flash flooding in parts of Saline County, including the Lake Norrell area west of the Avilla community.
The Lake Norrell area received about 6 inches of rain in a three-hour period, according to the National Weather Service, which said a 6-square-mile area received the most rain.
Lake Norrell Road was flooded and part of the road at the entrance to the new bridge, Caney Creek Bridge, was destroyed, Justice of the Peace Barbara Howell said. Howell lives at Lake Norrell and represents that area on the Quorum Court.
“Many people could neither leave nor enter into the lake,” Howell said.
County Judge Lanny Fite said the road was closed from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Marty Polk with the county road department said the road was re-opened at 4:30 after crews removed asphalt that was torn into pieces by the force of the water. Crews laid gravel so the road could open, Polk said.
The new Caney Creek Bridge was built as part of the 25-year floodplain guidelines. But the amount of water that flowed under it Monday, causing the road break apart, is equivalent to the 100-year floodplain, Fite said. Under the 25-year floodplain, the bridge is supposed to withstand 7 inches of water over a 24-hour period.
“But we had six-plus inches in a two- to three-hour period,” Fite said. “It was an extraordinary event.”
Road crews are trying to repair the road to make sure it doesn’t wash out again, but heavy rainfall today could hamper those efforts or cause additional damage, county officials said.
“We’ll put rip-rap (large stone) and then concrete over the top of that between the cracks and bind it all together,” Fite said. “And then we’ll bring it up to the road so water can’t get under the road and wash it out.”
Other roads damaged by flooding on Monday include Rushing, Sanders Ford and Cole Springs, officials said.
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