Weekend rain temporarily closes as many as 15 Stoddard County roads

As the rains fell Friday and Saturday, Butler County residents saw the rapid rise of Black River and several Stoddard County residents saw some roads get closed due to flash flooding. But there was no damage reported.

According to Stoddard County Emergency Management Agency Director Beau Bishop, as many as 15 roads needed to be closed as a result of flash flooding.

“As far as damage and any roads getting washed out, I haven’t heard anything like that,” Bishop explained. “We did get a lot of rain and there was some flash flooding, but we’re lucky it didn’t get any worse.”

According to information provided by the National Weather Service, Butler County received 2.74 inches of rain, while Stoddard County received approximately 4.5 inches of rain in a 72-hour period.

“We didn’t have any damage reported here in the county,” Butler County Emergency Management Agency Director Robbie Myers explained. “But, sometimes we don’t hear about any damage because people keep that information quiet. But, as far as I know, there was only some minor flash flooding and nothing more.”

Myers went on to explain the Black River had risen as high as 12 feet throughout the weekend, but started to lower to normal levels by Sunday afternoon.

It was reported that a retaining wall next to the Black River Coliseum collapsed during the heavy rainfall, but no particulars about the incident are known at this point.

Getting ready

Both Myers and Bishop said they are preparing for what appears to be some possibly heavy winter weather, as the National Weather Service out of Paducah, Ken., has been forecasting a possible snowfall between four and seven inches between Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon. As of Sunday afternoon, Butler County and Stoddard County were placed under a winter weather advisory that is in effect until 9 a.m. Wednesday.

“So far, they’re only calling for snow,” Myers remarked. “Hopefully that is all we get. Snow is a lot easier to deal with than ice.”

Bishop echoed those same sentiments.

“Right now, I’m focused on checking our generators and other equipment to make sure we’re prepared for the weather,” Bishop explained. “We can’t know how much accumulation we will get, but it could be a lot.”

According to the National Weather Service in Paducah, the average high for this time of year is 50 degrees, while the average low is 32 degrees.

“We’ll keep a close eye on the forecast and see if anything changes,” Myers noted. “We’re going to do everything we can to prepare. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”