Heavy rains from the latest round of spring storms drenched an already-soggy Alleghany Highlands Tuesday, causing minor flooding problems and creating treacherous driving conditions.
Nearly 2.5 inches of rain fell at the Gathright Dam – 0.72 inches was reported Tuesday morning and 1.69 inches today - prompting the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to increase the release to 7,733 cubic feet per second.
The Jackson River was expected to remain within its natural banks between the dam and Covington.
Dominion Power also advised that the Bath County Pumped Storage Project would be increasing its release to 3,000 cfs into Back Creek.
The Cowpasture River was swollen from the heavy rain.
The storm kept local law enforcement and Virginia Department of Transportation workers busy.
The Bath County E-911 dispatch center was flooded with calls Tuesday afternoon, and many of those calls came from the eastern section of the county.
Water was reported running across the road on Rt. 42 near Coffee Pot Road, while a tree fell into a creek and caused water to run across the road at Crizers Gap Road on Rt. 42.
Water was also reported in the roadway on River Road where culverts were clogged.
A mud slide was reported on Rt. 625 where the road was partially blocked, while the rain flooded Rt. 614 (Muddy Run Road) near Burnsville.
“Many areas of the county were hard hit and devastated,” said Bath County Sheriff Larry Norfleet. “Burnsville was particularly hard hit.”
High water was reported in the road near Bacova on the Jackson River Turnpike, while a rock slide was reported on Rt. 39 near the Blowing Springs Campground.
Norfleet said a portion of the road was blocked by a rock “the size of a Volkswagen.”
Water cut a three-foot ditch in the road near Bolar on Rt. 694, while Rt. 607 was also covered with water.
Water was running about a foot deep across the road near Bacova Junction.
“We had more calls than we had people to handle them,” Sheriff Norfleet said.
Norfleet said high waters were beginning to recede this morning in Bath County.
“It’s now a matter of clean up,” he said.
Rapid, heavy rainfall in Alleghany County caused drainage problems but little real damage.
“We dodged a bullet,” said Alleghany County Director of Public Safety Ryan Muterspaugh.
Muterspaugh said that the rapid rainfall was more than the culverts could handle in some areas of the county and caused a few temporary road closures.
“There were some road closures in the county as well as Iron Gate and Clifton Forge due to the culverts just not being able to keep up,” Muterspaugh said.
Those temporary closures included a section of road connecting the A Street bridge in Clifton Forge to Route 220.
“There were some rocks and other debris in the road and VDOT closed it temporarily until they could get it cleaned up,” Muterspaugh said.
While he said VDOT crews were still working on cleanup duties in the counties, the roads were clear and open today.
“As far as I know all the roads that were closed yesterday are open today,” he said.
The heavy rains called area fire and rescue agencies out to assist with traffic control and minor flooding issues.
“We did have some reports of people having water in their basements,” Muterspaugh said.
The heavy rains have left both the Jackson and Cowpasture rivers flirting with their banks.
“I looked out the back window this morning and I could see the Cowpasture was up out of its banks a little. I can tell you that the Jackson looked like it was going down as I was driving to work this morning. I would assume the Cowpasture would follow suit later this afternoon if it’s not already going down,” said Muterspaugh.
“Now we’re just waiting on the rivers, creeks and streams to go down,” he added.
Similar minor incidents were reported Tuesday in the city of Covington.
“We did have to block off the streets in a few places and take note of some ponding water on the roads,” said Covington Police Chief J.B. Broughman.
Broughman said that cones had to be placed on Monroe Avenue near Alleghany Avenue to warn motorists of standing water.
A culvert on Gillian Street also backed up when debris clogged it, but officials quickly took care of that.
“That’s mostly what we dealt with,” said Broughman. “When some of the culverts backed up the overflow was just too much for the system to handle.”
As the system moved out of the area today, the Highlands can expect a reprieve for several days until more storms are forecast for this weekend.
Showers and thunderstorms are expected to begin Friday night and continue into Saturday.
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