Travel on certain Monroe County roads isn’t possible right now after storms on Wednesday, June 17, and Sunday, June 21, gave a double punch of severe weather and heavy rains.
Currently portions of five county roads are closed due to flooding and Monroe County crews are out clearing trees and debris from other roadways.
On Monday, June 22, crews were still cleaning up after the June 17 storms, according to county highway director Lisa Ridge. “We have two full brush crews out clearing debris and trees off the roadways. We also have crews out plowing gravel off roadways where driveways and such are washed out due to the heavy rains,” she said in an email.
Ridge said most of the storm cleanup was in the northern portion of the county, with some minor clean-up in the southern part.
“We’ve had crews out on and off since last Wednesday, that could be for a downed tree or to put up road closed signs once the water rises enough to close the road,” she said.
Typical brush crews have seven people, working to clean up debris and damage from storms. And just when one area is done, Ridge said there’s more: “We will clean up from storms as long as it takes. It seems you get more areas reported on a daily basis that you might not have known about the day before.”
As of right now, the following roads are closed due to flooding:
If more significant rain falls, the number of closed roads could rise, Ridge said.
Brad Herold, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis, said that 3.14 inches of rain was reported in the far southwestern portion of Monroe County from June 21 to 22. That’s close to Interstate 69 and Greene County. In the northeastern part of the county 1.83 inches was recorded during that time.
The lowest report in Monroe County was for 1.28 inches during that stormy weather, Herold said. Greene County had up to 3.9 inches at that time.
According to the NWS forecast, the next chance for significant rain will begin Thursday night, when there’s a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms. On Friday, June 26, there’s a 70% chance of rain, with possible thunderstorms throughout the day and into the night. A 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms will continue into Saturday, June 27.
Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: County crews out clearing up storm debris; high water closes 5 roads
Reporting by Carol Kugler, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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By Carol Kugler, The Herald-Times | USA TODAY Network
