Rain recedes, roads begin to re-open

CLARKE COUNTY, Ala. (WALA) - Since Sunday's storms, Clarke County has fought to overcome flooding and possible tornado damage.  Now, the biggest problems may lie on the roadways.

It has been a wet few days for Grove Hill resident Greg Dunegan, who’s just hours removed from clearing water out of his home with a bucket.

 The water has since receded, and just like the storm it still leaves its mark.

“It has just been a big mess down here and everything has been saturated," Dunegan said.  "It rained more than what we expected here.  We got a lot of water runoff off our land, and it accumulated right around the area and throughout the neighborhood.”

Roadways also posed an issue according to EMA Director Roy Waite.

“At one point we probably had 20-25 roads that had water over the roadways," Waite said.  "At peak, we probably had eight roads that were closed.  We’re down now to about three roads.”

Officials said Zimco Road is closed because the threat of a sinking bridge.

“It is an extremely dangerous situation," Waite said.  "We do not want people walking up next to it.  When you first walk up to it, it appears that it would be safe to walk onto the bridge but it is not.  What you can’t see until you talk closer is that there’s pavement but there’s no dirt underneath it.”

A concrete post was tossed aside, and a gaping hole the size of an SUV was left.

The other closed roads are Mill Pond and Old Saint Stephens.

Clarke County had flooding and possible twister damage from the storm, but thankfully no injuries.  Waite thinks that’s due to a coordinated and efficient response.

“I think the individuals did a really good job preparing," Waite said.  "Our volunteer fire departments, our police departments, the sheriff’s office, and road and bridge crews got out that night clearing the roads.  We had probably 15 roads that were blocked with trees and power lines, so they were out very early clearing debris and getting the roads open for emergency traffic.”

Waite said thanks to that hard work, that Clarke County will soon be back to normal.