From today's The Times Reporter:
No relief in sight - Additional flooding likely
By LEE MORRISON lee.morrison@timesreporter.com
Keith McClintock of Keith’s Towing in Mineral City pulls a car from high water Monday on Rt. 212 as his father, Art McClintock, rides on the back of truck.
T-R/Jim Cummings
ZOAR – More rain in the forecast could mean isolation for residents of northern Tuscarawas County.
“The fear up here is that we’ll return to where we were three years ago – that we’ll be trapped with no way out,” said Rev. Floyd Stanfill of Faith Baptist Church at Wilkshire Hills and a resident of Zoar.
“It’s not that bad yet, but it looks like we’re going to lose use of the” bridge on Rt. 212 over the Tuscarawas River between I-77 and Wilkshire Hills. He said the water level has to rise less than 3 feet before it’s onto the bridge.
The county Homeland Security & Emergency Management Agency issued an alert Monday that said the predicted rainfall in the Tuscarawas Valley “could produce additional flooded roadways and possibly isolate residents” in the northern part of the county “over the next several days, particularly around Zoarville and the Michael Ln. area near Zoar.”
Director Patty Levengood said officials from throughout the county met Monday to discuss potential flooding and other issues. Forecasts call for up to 1.5 inches of rain today and up to another inch Wednesday.
County Engineer Joe Bachman said several roads prone to flooding behind Dover and Bolivar dams are closed. They are County Rds. 81, 86, 89, 105, 106, 107 and 109.
County Rd. 81, Canal Rd., was misidentified as Middle Run Rd. Sunday in a story that included a list of closed roads.
Ohio Department of Transportation personnel said Rt. 212 at Rt. 800 near Zoarville is restricted to one lane because of high water.
A motorist drove around high water warning signs on Rt. 212 near Rt. 800 at Zoarville Monday at 3:19 p.m. State troopers said water was half-way up the doors of the car. A tow truck pulled the car from the water. The driver was cited for driving on a closed roadway. Troopers had to go to the area several times throughout the night for reports of people disobeying the signs.
Levengood said staff will work closely with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates the dams, “and provide notification to communities and residents who may be isolated by flooding,” she said.
Nick Krupa, operations manager for the Muskingum Area of the Corps, said Monday night that the pool behind Dover Dam “has about leveled off, and Bolivar and Beach City have both started to fall. We’re not discharging any significant volume from Atwood or Leesville Dam until Dover is down.
“We’re at what we call alert pool at Atwood and Leesville. That involves reading the instrumentation in the dam more frequently and conducting more frequent inspections of the dam. It doesn’t indicate any problems with the dam itself.”
He also said that while many people want him to say how high the water will go, “we really can’t make any accurate predictions until we see how much rainfall has fallen and where and that it has stopped.”
Trustees in Fairfield, Lawrence and Sandy townships are monitoring roads, Levengood said.
Lawrence Township trustees were working Monday on opening an emergency connection between N. Orchard Rd. and Glen Park Dr. over Bolivar Dam to Gracemont Rd. Corps officials said Rt. 800 north of Mineral City is expected to remain open with the current forecast.
Lawrence Township Trustee Don Ackerman said work began on Glen Park Dr. last week with digging out stumps. Monday morning work started on cutting the road in. Today, trucks from the township, other townships and the county are expected to haul stone for the road.
“Depending on the rain, we hope to have it in place this week,” he said. “It should be passable, with probably two lanes. The people won’t be stranded. The Glen Park Dr. relocation shouldn’t be needed for awhile, but we want to have it in place if it’s needed.”
Ackerman based his comments on anticipation that Rt. 800 north of Mineral City and County Rd. 82 aren’t expected to close as they did in January 2005.
“A lot of people don’t understand that last time there wasn’t a back road, county road or any road out of here,” Stanfill said. “There were 6,000 people trapped.”
Stanfill remembers that during that flood he helped get medicine or sump pumps to those in need.
“That’s why it’s more real to me,” he said. “I literally walked up and down hills to get things to people the last time.”
Stanfill noted that trustees were working on the emergency exit road.
“If we would have had that the last time, people wouldn’t have been trapped like that,” he said. “The access road that they’re cutting won’t solve the school problem, but it will allow people to get to their jobs. I’m really thankful the trustees are putting that road in.”
He was referring to Tuscarawas Valley Local Schools District being closed Monday. Superintendent Mark Murphy said there are at least seven roads that are impassable or closed in the district. School personnel said Monday night that school will be closed until further notification.
Stanfill’s main criticism: “It’s surprising how little news we hear until it actually happens. Once it happens, then you find out.”
No comments:
Post a Comment