Snowplows used to help reopen roads closed by flood

CELINA - Mother Nature's torrential downpours have turned Mercer County's 384 miles of roads into an obstacle course.

While some Mercer County roadways are slowly being reopened - this morning 31 remain closed and 22 had high water - county engineer Jim Wiechart said it will take time to clear the roadways of the debris that has washed onto them. Six roadways remain closed in Auglaize County.

Wiechart said his office had a snowplow out Thursday and will have another out today clearing logs, branches and corn fodder that has been swept from fields and wooded areas onto the roads.

"It's probably going to take a week or two to get to every road and get the stuff off," Wiechart said. "There's a bunch of cleanup to do."

Damage to a bridge has closed a two-mile stretch of Slavik Road in Butler Township. The road will likely be closed for the next week or so, Wiechart said.

"It's amazing what Mother Nature can do," he added. "In all the years I've been here, I've never seen rain wash away pavement from a bridge deck before, but that's what happened to this bridge."

The bridge remains structurally sound but crews must repair the berm and one corner of the bridge.

"You can expect it to be closed for at least a week," Wiechart said.

Wiechart said Frysinger Road is also closed due to the amount of debris that has been washed onto it.

"There's a lot of logs and wood that we need to get off but it's going to take awhile," Wiechart said. "We hope to get it open as soon as possible."

For those residents needing cleanup materials due to water in their homes, the Red Cross will offer kits including mops, brooms and cleaning solutions, according to Bill Steinbrunner, the Red Cross regional disaster program manager.

"We're going to be offering those at the engineer's office at 321 Riley St. in Celina starting at 8 a.m. today," Steinbrunner said.

No one has called for the agency's assistance in the past week, Steinbrunner said.

"But that doesn't mean people haven't had to leave their homes due to high water," he added. "It could mean they just went to a relative's home."

On Wednesday, Mercer County commissioners declared a state of emergency, allowing officials to ask for additional help and possibly funding if the flooding continues or worsens.

With just a trace of rain in the area Thursday, local weather forecaster Dennis Howick said seven inches of rain had fallen during the week, including 1.56 inches on Wednesday. June generally sees an average of 3.86 inches of rain, but this year has already seen 8.9 inches of rain.

Officials are closely watching the weather forecasts, especially looking to see if remnants from Tropical Storm Bill could affect the area this weekend.

The Mercer County Sheriff's Office said no one has been injured due to the high water and some roads will start opening up today.

Monte Diegel, county 911 administrator, said two truck drivers had tried to take flooded roadways near Rockford and needed to be towed out.

"We're getting there," Diegel said. "We've had a lot of calls from people who are asking for directions to get around the closed roads and we're happy to help them get where they need to go."