Torrential
Rains Cause Heavy
Flooding, Wrecks, Road Damage
Police,
Fire, Rescue and Street Departments Have Hectic Day
Arab teenagers,
Jason Vaughn and Devin Rabie cling to the
hood of a Jeep which was stranded by flood
waters on Ruth Mountain Road. The boys
and the top of the Jeep are visible just to
the right of the orange sign.
Photo
special to Arab Today
An Arab Rescue
Squad boat makes it's way to the stranded
vehicle to rescue teenagers Additional
photos on following pages.
Arab
Today Photo by Dwight Hayes
This one car
accident on Hwy 231 North trapped the driver
inside the vehicle for a short time.
He was transported to Huntsville Hospital
with a possible femur fracture.
Photo Special To
Arab Today
Haynes Road NE
was just one of the local streets that
were impassable due to flood waters on
Tuesday. Arab Street Department
personnel and Marshall County road crews
struggled to keep up with barricades.
Arab
Today Photo by Dwight Hayes
January 6, 2009
- By Dwight Hayes
Torrential rains caused extensive flooding
and huge problems for North Alabama
emergency personnel and street and road
crews on Tuesday. More than 6 inches
of rain fell on ground already saturated
with earlier heavy rains.
In Arab, public
works personnel worked at a fever pitch
trying to keep up with reports of flooding
and damaged streets. As many as a
dozen streets had to be barricaded at
different times during the day.
Marshall County road crews were kept busy
with rural county roads. Emergency
personnel answered a rash of wrecks and
rescue calls caused by the heavy rains and
flooding.
A tornado watch
was issued for the are Tuesday afternoon and
more rain was expected until around midnight
Tuesday. The rain was expected to
taper off as temperatures drop into the high
thirties.
Rain soaked teenagers (foreground with Arab
life preserver and top right background) step onto land after
being rescued from stranded vehicle around 5:30pm Tuesday
afternoon.
Arab Today Photo by Dwight Hayes
Two Arab area teenagers
from the Ruth Mountain Road area were trapped on the hood of
their Jeep late Tuesday after the vehicle was swamped by flood
waters at the bottom of Ruth Mountain Road. Jason Vaughn,
age 18, and Devin Rabie, age 17, were clinging to the hood of
the Jeep when rescue personnel plucked them from the icy cold
waters and into an Arab Rescue Squad boat. The boys, who
were apparently stranded for 2-3 hours, were suffering from
hypothermia according to an Arab Fire Rescue spokesman.
The flood waters covered the vehicle hood by several inches and
the lower extremities of the victims were in the water most of
the time. They were unable to climb unto the top of the
vehicle due to the fabric roof.
The teenagers were treated for hypothermia at the
scene but declined to be transported to a hospital by ambulance.
The father of one of the boys said they lived nearby and would
be taken to their home to rest and warm.
Ken Jones of Arab Fire Rescue and an unidentified
Ruth Volunteer firefighter treat the flood victims after rescue.
Arab Today Photo by Dwight Hayes
Personnel from Arab Fire & Rescue, Ruth Volunteer
Fire Department, Tri-County Volunteer Fire Department, Arab
Rescue Squad, and Arab Police Department participated in the
rescue.
The driver of this overturned vehicle was trapped
briefly before being rescued by Arab Fire Rescue and Arab Rescue
Squad personnel. Mike Cato was transported to Huntsville
Hospital by Marshall Health System EMS.
Three wrecks within a 30 minute span kept police
busy Tuesday afternoon. A wreck on U. S. Hwy 231 North near
Walker Building Supply trapped the Mike Cato, age 51 in the
overturned vehicle. The one vehicle wreck occurred around
1:30 pm Tuesday during a heavy downpour. Cato apparently
lost control due to the heavy rain.
Two other drivers were involved in minor
accidents on U. S. Hwy 231 North but were uninjured. The
first suffered a blow tire and ran into the highway median near
Son's Barbecue. The second lost control and ended up in a
ditch near the intersection of 231 and Haynes Road.
This photo of a raging stream is
representative of streams across Brindlee Mountain Tuesday.
This photo was shot by Robert Hartleben on his property in
the Fry Gap area.
The rumors that Arab Street Department
Director Steve Hallman was considering building an Ark may have
been exaggerated but the flooding and road damage were not.
Public works personnel were swamped (no pun intended) by the
rains. Many streets were closed and in danger of washing
out. The extent of the damage to the streets and drainage
systems will probably not be known for several days.
Street department personnel will begin surveying the damage
Wednesday morning.
Most ponds and lakes were overflowing as the
rain continued to fall. Pine Lake was at the highest
levels that anyone could remember. Several school buses
had to be rerouted due to the flooded streets.
A large tree fell across 4th Ave NW near Mink
Creek and the Arab Public Library around 1:30 pm Tuesday.
The root system was apparently weakened by the saturated ground.
Arab Today photo by Dwight Hayes
10th Ave NW, a perennial trouble spot during
heavy rains was over topped by flood waters and the street had
to be closed most of the day. Erosion and washout of the
pavement and road base can the seen on the right side of the
road.
Arab Today photo by Dwight Hayes
This pond on Kelley Dr NW is normally divided
by the street but Tuesday afternoon it was one big lake as the
rains pushed most ponds and lakes out of their boundaries.
Arab Today photo by Dwight Hayes
