Cleanup continues in Berea flash flooding

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Mildred and Russ Chamberlin load a trailer Wednesday with items from their garage and insulation and storage totes from under their house ruined in Tuesday’s flood. “Had (the city) cleaned the ditches out, it’s a good possibility we wouldn’t have been flooded this time,” Mildred said. “One day’s work (by the city) could have saved (our and our neighbor’s) homes.” Nancy Taggart
Water floods the back of a subdivision near KY 1016 in Berea on Tuesday afternoon. Nancy Taggart

July 29, 2010

By Emily Burton Register News Writer The Richmond Register Thu Jul 29, 2010, 08:05 AM EDT

BEREA — The city’s normally placid creeks and streams became bloated waterways Tuesday evening. Engorged by heavy rains, they rose from their banks as gushing, swift-moving waters covered area roadways. The waters crept into basements of homes, and damaged a Berea school and made several area roads hazardous.

Eleven roads in and around Berea were closed due to flooding as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Madison County Emergency Management Agency.

Berea Fire Chief Ray Curtis said the department rescued a few people who were trapped in their cars because of the flash flooding.

“There were a few we had to go help out of cars,” he said.

A few inches of water which seeped in Fire Station No. 2, Curtis said, but there was no damage to the station.

The department did not seek mutual aid from other agencies in Madison County, but Curtis said all fire department personnel, including Berea volunteer firefighters were called out to help.

The Red Lick Volunteer Fire Department also was called out to assist with flooding in the southern part of Madison County.

Carl Richards, Madison County Emergency Management director, said there were a few rescues performed. In one vehicle, a van with two children inside, water rose as high as the windows, according to police radio reports. The van became stuck after the driver attempted to navigate high water at 1300 Walnut Hill, near Huddle House.

All four occupants were rescued, and none suffered any injury.

The basements of several Berea homes flooded as a result of the torrential downpour, Curtis and Richards said.

All roadways closed as a result of flooding were re-opened by 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, said David Gregory, Berea police chief.

Police officers assisted with traffic control, and the fire department as needed, he said.

Gregory said he was working closely with state emergency management officials as well as Madison County EMA to determine the extent of any damage.

The Berea Community School sustained damage as a result of the floods, said Donna Lovell, director of district-wide services said.

The basement of the school flooded, as well as four rooms, including the choir and band rooms, and the Singletary gymnasium.

This gymnasium was constructed at the same time as the school, Lovell said.

“We’ve got the school cleaned up,” she said Wednesday. “We lost in the band room and choir room, some music and several reams of paper.”

Several computers at the school likely were destroyed when they were inundated with floodwater, Lovell said.

“We were fortunate at the time the flood hit that we had several people on site who were able to get many items off the floor,” she said.

Several teachers, staff and students raced to beat the quickly rising flood water, and were able to save many items from destruction, Lovell said.

A cleaning crew already was working Wednesday morning to clean up the mess left behind by the 2 to 3 inches of water which saturated the school.

Water made its way to the school’s gymnasium, but because of the quick actions of the teachers, staff and students, damage to the floor likely was minimal, Lovell said. However, staff would be checking on the flooring to determine if any of the pieces buckle or rise up from the subfloor, and indication of damage.

Lovell also said the school would be thoroughly and appropriately cleansed before the opening day of school, Aug. 11.

Carpeting in some of the rooms would likely have to be replaced, she said.

Richards said he and other members of EMA were assessing affected areas to determine the cost of the damage. He said it is unlikely the flood-affected areas will meet the minimum requirements for a federal disaster declaration.

It would be known by Friday whether the flooded areas will qualify, he said.

Damage from this flood appeared to be less severe than that from floods in May.

“If you look at it from a dollars and cents standpoint, May would be greater, but if you look at (this week’s) floods from a scare factor, this was probably worse than the May flood,” Richards said.

Michael Bryant, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Louisville, said according to radar estimates, about 5 inches of rain fell on Berea in about three hours. He estimated total rainfall to be between 4 and 6 inches.

Rainfall totals for this year are not excessive, Bryant said, but when rain has been occurring, it has been falling in copious amounts.

“It does seem like when rain occurs, it’s been pretty heavy,” he said. “But for this type of weather pattern with a southwesterly flow, it’s pretty typical.”

The heavy rainfall can be explained because the weather globally is transitioning from a La Nina pattern to an El Nino pattern. This transition brings heavy weather to Kentucky, he said.

Bryant said that although there may be a break from the current weather pattern for a few days, he said it was unlikely to change for the remainder of the summer.

Emily Burton can be reached at eburton@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.

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