Wide Spread Flooding
Jefferson County experiences wide spread flooding as part of large low pressure system moves across U.S.
Days of unrelenting rain took its toll on Jefferson County last week, leaving many residents dealing with the fallout from extensive flooding. Around 8 inches of rain fell locally in the span of a four and ½ day period, that left many homeowners dealing with floods in their homes and on their property. Creeks flooded and drainage systems struggled to manage the onslaunt of water, resulting in impassable streets and bridges. Jefferson County Schools were dismissed mid week in answer to the increasing treacherous road conditions and County Road Crews logged hours trying to stay ahead of the continuous downpour. The County finally found reprieve from the rising waters on Thursday, when a mid afternoon cold front changed the rain to snow. Local lake waters are at near capacity and trees in the area have been compromised due to the over saturation of the ground. Though the excessive rain event comes with a high price tag for many County Departments, as they ran crews overtime, however, Appalachian Electric reported little or no increase in outages during the 4 days of rain. Jefferson County has posted over 9 inches of rain so far in 2013, compared to an average of 3.79 inches as an average rainfall amount for the month of January. Any further rainfall this month will only widen the discrepancies of normal rainfall and posted rainfall for the first month of 2013.
