About two inches of rain fell on Hillsboro overnight through Tuesday morning causing several headaches for local road crews.
Hillsboro Public Works Superintendent Shawn Adkins said shortly after noon that the city’s “sanitary sewers are clear full, and some people can’t use their toilets, but until the water goes down there’s not a lot I can do about it. We’re just taking in all the water we can take.”
Adkins said North East Street and Diamond Drive in Liberty Park were both closed at least part of the day due to high water. He said that on North East Street, a culvert on private property near SR 138 was blocked causing the storm water to overflow across the street. On Diamond Drive, the water had receded enough that the road was reopened before noon.
Highland County Engineer Dean Otworth said he emptied a water gauge outside his office Monday evening and that by early Tuesday afternoon it had collected two new inches of rain. He said that according to reports he had heard, the rain was heavier in the southern and eastern portions of the county.
Otworth said Taylorsville and Dragoo roads were closed due to high water, as were other rural roads all over the county.
“Clear Creek Road and a lot of other township roads are closed, but the township trustees typically take care of the township roads,” Otworth said.
He said that Clear Creek, where it runs into the Rocky Fork area, was getting high early Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re just trying to get out and get barricades up so people don’t drive through the water,” Otworth said. “I guess if you want to tell people something, tell them when they see high water to turn around. Don’t drive through it because it’s not worth the risk.”
Around 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, the Highland County Sheriff’s Office dispatch center put out a message saying the National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm warning for southern Highland County until 7 p.m. Tuesday.
The National Weather Service was calling for more showers and thunderstorms, some possibly severe with breezy conditions, overnight and into early Wednesday morning.
There was no rain in the forecast for Wednesday or Thursday, according to the NWS, but it was calling for variable chances of rain every day from Friday through Tuesday, with a chance of snow showers Saturday morning and Sunday night.
Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522 or [email protected].
