Floods close roads in Davison County

Several segments of Davison County roads were closed Sunday evening as creeks within the county left their banks, pushing water, ice or both into the path of traffic.

Around sundown Sunday, Davison County Emergency Management Director Jim Montgomery said ice heaved so intensely amid the strain of a rising Firesteel Creek that huge chunks of ice were thrown upon the bridge on 405th Avenue, west of Mitchell. County employees used machinery and worked into the dark to remove the ice.

The road runs north-south, three miles west of Mitchell. The closed bridge is between 249th and 250th Streets.

“All of a sudden, ice broke and (the creek) shoved it up over the railings and road. It covered the whole width (of the road),” Montgomery said. “We just have huge pieces of ice sailing down the Firesteel now.”

As of 8 p.m., Montgomery reported that no water had yet come over the 405th Avenue bridge — just ice, with some pieces as large as 3 feet by 8 feet. Montgomery said county maintenance supervisor Rusty Weinberg had the road cleared enough for traffic to potentially go through, but he still worried the bridge could be a traffic hazard.

By 9 p.m., however, Montgomery declared the road closed.

“The ice is off, the water is coming up onto the road,” he said.

Overall, Montgomery estimated eight segments of county roads were closed early Sunday evening. South of Mitchell, he said the paved road that leaves town near the Ramada Inn was inundated by the water of Enemy Creek about eight miles from town. The road was blocked off.

By Sunday evening, Lake Mitchell had risen about 3 feet from its morning level, Montgomery said. The spillway on the east edge of the lake was running hard throughout the day and Firesteel Creek was a torrent below the dam.

Dry Run Creek, which runs through Mitchell, also was running deep and swift Sunday. As its name implies, it rarely is much more than a trickle.

Today, Montgomery said he advises county residents to “just watch the roads.” Temperatures are expected to reach 43 degrees today and 45 degrees Tuesday, according to the Web site accuweather.com.

“On the roads and the lowlands outside of Mitchell, in the countryside, be careful,” he said. “I hate to say it, but I think it’ll get worse.”

Some residents who live near wet areas have begun sandbagging around their homes, expecting the worst. Anyone who needs sandbags is asked to call Montgomery on his cellular telephone, 770-9610.

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