Grand Bay Produce vegetables, roads plagued by flooding

GRAND BAY, Ala. (WALA) - Heavy rain caused headaches for Mobile County road crews as saturated ground caused severe runoff and lead to road closures.

Mobile County work crews spent the morning repairing roads washed away by this weekend's wicked weather.

On Grand Bay Wilmer Road Monday morning, crews had just finished cleaning up after Mother Nature.

The roads aren't the only ones to crack under the pressure.

The rain was too much, too quickly for Oak Hill Produce in Grand Bay.  Some of their tomato plants were overwhelmed, cracking under the pressure of the three-day-long deluge.

"Seems like it is either a feast or famine. Don't get enough or it’s too much all at one time," said one of the owners, Brian Keller.

Puddles of muddy water dot the farmland.

Keller said he saw at least 10 inches of rain. He said not all the plants were damaged; there are still some to be picked and salvaged.

Another problem is getting to them. The roads at the farm, which customers use to get to the produce to pick it, were severely eroded from the rain.

"Our garden isn't driveable right now. But soon we will get the roads fixed and have it passable," said Keller. 

Just as the county workers have done.

Trucks loaded with dirt were hauled in for the repairs to a stretch of Leroy Stevens just north of Cottage Hill Road, where the rain took its toll as well.

The rain may be over, but the recovery is just getting underway.