County remains under flood warning; rain closes schools today
Warren County and most of Middle Tennessee remains under a flood warning this morning as a slow-moving front is expected to continue drenching the Nursery Capital for a second straight day.
As a result, Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale announced last night schools would not be is session today.
The continuous rains forced the early precautionary closing of Warren County Schools at 12:45 p.m. Thursday as school officials feared there could be flooding in some low-lying areas. Hale said 15 buses had to take alternate routes to avoid high water, but emphasized all students made it home safely.
According to Assistant Road Superintendent Levie Glenn, road problems began Thursday afternoon as some roads were overtaken by flood water following constant rains which began in the pre-dawn hours Thursday.
“What we mainly saw were low-lying areas which began to flood, mostly in the areas around Viola, Morrison and Centertown,” Glenn said. “We put out some warning signs where the water was over the road and hopefully motorists will take notice of those because they don’t need to try to drive through areas where water is over the road.”
Glenn said one motorist had his truck overtaken when he tried to drive through a flooded portion of Pettigap Road Thursday and was forced to abandon his vehicle. Glenn noted that automobiles overtaken by high waters are the No. 1 cause of flooding deaths.
“We’re doing all we can to put up warning signs, but people need to use good judgment,” Glenn said, noting the road department planned to continue monitoring the roads throughout Thursday evening. “That may mean taking another route to work and getting going a little early in case they need to detour.”
The flooding problems are being brought by a slow-moving front which stalled over the Midstate while bringing up moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. The front is expected to move out of the area some time today. However, a second front is expected to settle over the area Saturday, possibly bringing with it more flooding problems.