Weather turns spring break into soggy chaos
By: Toni Walker
Editor of The Steel Country Bee
On a week where most area school children have been home on spring break, a week’s worth of rainfall has left most of Morris County and the surrounding area a wet mess.
What began with a weekend full of sunshine and hopes of outdoor activities quickly turned into a week of treacherous commutes and dodging raindrops. Storms rolled into the area early Wednesday morning, and quickly dropped multiple inches of rain. This led to overflowing creeks low-lying areas.
According to intellicast.com, Daingerfield had 7.93 inches of total rainfall over the midweek period of March 8 through 10. And the rained had not stopped on Friday, either. The Jenkins Community, just south of Daingerfield, had reported a whopping 12.27 inches over the same time frame, according to Intellicast.
On Wednesday, the damage began early, as the Daingerfield Fire Department was called to the scene of a tree which had fallen on the house located at 205 Wills Street. It is unknown at the time if there were any injuries. The tree had been was unable to remain upright in the soggy ground, and was uprooted by the winds that came in with the storm on Wednesday morning. County Road 3113, also in Daingerfield, was closed due to water having washed out a culvert.
Many county roads were at least partially flooded, including County Road 1225, which is just west of Boggy Creek, near Cason. The banks of Boggy Creek could not contain the rising waters, and flooded nearby fields and pasture areas. Although the water never breached Highway 11, had there been many more days of steady rain, that would have been a possibility.
The Daingerfield Country Club, which has a history of flooding with heavy rain, once again became country club lake, as flood waters rose above the new ridges that have been placed on the cart paths at the course. The water hazards at the course, which regularly are not too big of an issue, quickly took over the course, even as the waters receded back into the stream banks.
Although the rain should give way to sunny skies in the coming days, the danger is still real. Trees can continue to fall, due to the saturated ground being unable to sustain their weight. And, as long as water remains over a road, it is safest to turn around and not drown. Should any residents find any unsafe conditions, such as washed out culverts, water over roads, or downed trees, please contact law enforcement with the location of the hazard.
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