Heavy rain, little else in storm

Published 6:00 am Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Storms that swept the area Monday night appeared to have beenmore bark than bite, local emergency officials said.

“We had some sporadic trees down here and there, but there wasnothing major,” said Brookhaven-Lincoln County Civil DefenseDirector Clifford Galey. “There was some road flooding in the cityand the county, but it was the normal stuff for when we get 2 or 3inches of rain.”

The city saw the brunt of the flooding, according to officials.City police barricaded some roads and directed traffic onothers.

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“Floods, floods, floods,” said Brookhaven Police Chief PapHenderson. “Some of them we barricaded because people in this towncontinued to want to drive through it.”

Henderson said his department took reports on 14 flooded streetsin the city, but that they had no calls about downed trees or powerlines.

“Some of the roads we left alone and just did what we could andpatrolled as much as possible,” Henderson said. “There wasn’t toomuch we could do for some of the roads, but the Street Departmentwas out, helping a good bit.”

Galey said the official numbers were not in yet, but that he wascertain the area had gotten at least 2.5 inches of rain in thedeluge. At the city’s waste water treatment plant, 4.7 inches ofrain was recorded in the 24 hours from 7:30 a.m. Monday until 7:30a.m. Tuesday.

He said there were a few reports of pea-sized hail, and that afunnel cloud was spotted but never touched down.

There appeared to be some sky-to-ground lightning, and Galeysaid there was one home with minor damages due to lightning.

“There was an apparent lightning strike out in the county, andsome damage to a home on Kennison Lane,” he said.

The Heuck’s Retreat Volunteer Fire Department was called out,but the damage to the home was relatively minor, Galey added.

Galey said Brookhaven and Lincoln County were under tornado andflash flood watches until 11 p.m. Monday. He said there were twoseparate tornado warnings, but nothing touched down.

The National Weather Service reported gusts of around 60 milesper hour.

Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing said his deputies checkedinto reports of downed trees, but that there didn’t seem to besubstantial damage in the county. He said there were also areas ofwater on the road that were a road hazard, but that no majoraccidents had occurred as a result.