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Friday deluge floods roads, puts end to burn ban

Wed, 08/24/2016 - 6:00 am
editor@grahamleader.com
The two-day deluge Thursday and Friday that flooded roads and filled creeks across northern Young County, caused evacuations and closed highways in Olney and Newcastle and even forced rescue of two men across a raging creek may be gone, as is Young County’s burn ban, but the threat of more rain on already-soaked ground will return this weekend. In Graham Friday, a few cars driven into deep water at intersections, including along Cherry Street, had to be towed. Whitewater raged on roads that tend to flood during fast rains, including along 2nd Street downtown, and Shawnee Park flooded as its creek pushed out of its banks. The official weather station at Graham Municipal Airport registered 1.11 inches of rain Friday, Aug. 20, but another weather station, on Cherry St. near Brazos St., recorded 3.52 inches that same day. Totals from Aug. 17 through Aug. 21 at those two stations were 1.99 inches and 5.33 inches, respectively. Graham normally receives an average of 1.75 inches of rain in August, according to the National Weather Service’s records for the past 30 years. The airport station has recorded 2.06 inches so far this month, while the measurement for August at the Cherry Street station is 5.53 inches. Further north Olney and Newcastle received far more rain than the Graham area. Some 5.35 inches were recorded Friday in downtown Olney, which has received 7.86 inches of rain this month, compared to a 30-year normal figure of 1.98 inches in August. A station at U.S. 380 West at Hidden Oaks Lane recorded 3.34 inches for Friday, and a total of 5.31 inches for August. The NWS reported Friday that water was over the roadway at Springcreek Road and Mockingbird in Olney, and Griffin Park was under water. The southbound lane of Hwy. 17 near Olney had to be closed due to flash flooding, and Ronnie Coward, the city’s emergency management coordinator, said up to 6 inches of rain had been recorded in the town Friday. Olney Police reported residents were displaced from their homes at the Bluebonnet Apartments due to flooding Friday, and a mother and small child had to be rescued from a car caught in flood waters on Cherry Street. Those families were able to return to their homes at 5 p.m. the same day. For the rest of this story, pick up a copy of Wednesday’s Graham Leader, or subscribe to our online edition.