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Heavy rainfall creates
hazards in Corinth area
Published Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009
By L.A. Story
Staff Writer
Heavy rains Friday added to what had already been a soggy week to cause several flash floods in the Corinth area.
Barricades were out all over Corinth as several areas flooded enough to become hazardous. Corinth Street Commissioner Jim Bynum said barricades were put up at some locations known for flooding such as the Proper Street underpass and the Cass Street underpass.
The flooding pattern had a few surprises during Friday’s torrential downpour, Bynum said. The Fifth Street ditch flooded, causing a 50-60 foot wide flooding section that extended across Proper, Waldron, Cruise and Foote Streets. However, Bunch Street did not flood.
“I haven’t ever seen that happen and it was about foot and a half deep,” said Bynum. The street commissioner went on to say that that the downtown area around Polk street — where the old museum used to be located — was flooded.
The water came hard and fast, Bynum said, even damaging a new asphalt job on Cruise Street at Cass.
“The water came down Cass Street so hard at Cruise that it lifted the new asphalt up about a foot up in the air and laid it back down,” said Bynum. The pump at the Cass Street underpass had just been reworked, he said.
“I’m guessing there was a least four to six inches of rain ... when you get this much rain at one time it doesn’t matter what you’ve got,” said Bynum.
The Harper Square Mall parking lot filled with fast moving water that spilled out onto Harper Road, which made navigating the busy roadway treacherous. Many familiar landmarks were covered with water, including Crossroads Regional Park and several areas off of Cass Street.
Evening totals at www.corinthweather.net showed the monthly rainfall at 8.31 inches and the daily rainfall for Friday stood at 4.45 inches by late afternoon.
A flash flood warning issued by the National Weather Service was in effect Friday until 3:45 p.m. and a flash flood watch remains in effect until this afternoon, according to Scott McNeil, of the National Weather Service in Memphis, Tenn.
McNeil said the weather patterns are wet and slow moving and the area is likely to see more rain soon.
“We’ll see more rain for the weekend and into next week,” McNeil said.
“There’s ample opportunity for more flooding.”
