Flood closes roads in county

Highway 218 in Washington County was closed briefly Wednesday morning because of the torrential rains that hit the area over last night. Highway 218 is now completely open. Several gravel roads in northern Washington County were also closed because of rain. Washington County Engineer David Patterson estimated there were as many as 15 gravel roads closed between Wellman and Riverside.

As of Wednesday afternoon, there are about 12 gravel roads still closed, mostly around the English River.

Patterson said that W61, ?Riverside Road,? was also closed for a short time early Wednesday morning but it was back open by 6 a.m.

?The rain came really fast,? said Patterson. ?The northern part of the county got hammered. It rained about 3 or 4 inches around Riverside.?

Patterson called his workers out at 3 a.m. to begin blocking off roads. All of the county?s construction projects are on hold.

?The grading projects on Spruce and Ivy are shut down,? said Patterson. ?Paving on Kiwi Avenue has stopped. The bridge construction in Kalona is shut down. The bridge work on Hickory has been postponed, too.?

Patterson said that the English and Skunk rivers are still rising.

The National Weather Service issued a flood warning Wednesday morning for the English River at Kalona. The warning is in effect until Friday morning. At 10 a.m. Wednesday, the river was measured at 17.1 feet and rising. The flood stage for the river is 14 feet.

According to the National Weather Service, ?Moderate flooding is occurring and is forecast to continue.?

The weather service expects the river level to rise to 17.2 feet later this evening and then fall below the flood stage Friday morning.

The weather service also issued a flood warning for the Iowa River near Lone Tree, which is in effect until Thursday morning. The weather service reported that at 10 a.m. Wednesday the river was at 15.4 feet and steady. The flood stage of the Iowa River at that point is 15 feet.

?Minor flooding is occurring and is forecast to continue,? said the weather service?s report. ?At 15 feet, the water affects low lying roads.?

The Iowa River is expected to rise to 16.3 feet today and fall below its flood stage by Thursday morning.

The Department of Transportation had not returned phone calls seeking further information by press time.