Heavy rain causes flooding, road closures across the region

Apr. 3—Heavy rains have made their way through the region during the past few days, dousing the area with an average of 2 inches of rain and causing severe flooding in several locations. The conditions have led to road and school closures throughout the area.

"We've seen and have reports of anywhere from 1 3/4 inches to upwards of 3 1/2 inches over the past 48-72 hours, " said National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Frazier Wednesday afternoon. "It's created a lot of issues across the region."

As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, the West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) said several roads were closed in Monongalia and Preston counties due to high water conditions.

In Monongalia County, WVDOT listed Wadestown Road, W.Va. 7 at Russell Run, Pentress Road, Crossroads Road at Wadestown Road, 1640 Tyrone Road, and Zeb Haught Road as closed at that time.

In addition, River Road was closed from Holland Avenue to Lockside Drive due to a rockslide.

Monongalia County Emergency Management Agency (MECCA 911) also reported high water conditions on Dents Run Boulevard in the Granville area, and the subterranean bridge on White Avenue from Deckers Creek Boulevard near Marilla Park was closed.

Flooding in the western part of the county caused classes at Clay-Battelle High School and Mason Dixon Elementary School to be canceled for the day.

In Preston County, Marquess Cole Bank, Cornwell Road, Simpson Road, Sinclair Road, Saltlick Road at Pine Grove Church Road, and Pine Grove Church Road were affected by the flooding.

According to Jake Flatley, senior transportation public information specialist with WV DOT, when roads are flooded, crews must wait for the water to recede before being able to assess damage and make repair plans.

"That's a good amount of rain, " said Accuweather Senior Meteorologist Tom Kines regarding the area's 2-inch rainfall average. "The good news is that the heavy rain is done with."

Kines predicts some showers will continue over the next few days, "but I don't think any of those will contribute to additional flooding, so the flooding situation should gradually improve over the next couple days, " he said.

Frazier agreed that the heaviest rains are over.

"Additional precipitation isn't going to be much, " he said. "We are only looking at a total of another quarter inch, so the additional precipitation isn't expected to add any issues."

Both Kines and Frazier mentioned that along with the rain showers, it would not be out of the question that there might be some wet snow mixed in every now and then.

While the snow will likely be a few flakes mingled with rain, there is a small chance we could see a whitening of the ground in spots.

Of course, heading east into the mountains, there is a much better chance of getting covering snow, Kines said.

According to both meteorologists, the sun isn't scheduled to make a lengthy appearance until later in the weekend.

"It probably won't be until Sunday until we get a day that offers us several hours of sunshine, " Kines said. "I think we will see some peaks maybe on Saturday, but I think Sunday is the day that everybody's hoping for."

Next week might be the time to break out the lawn mower, Kines said. "With the return of sunshine, I think everybody's going to see their grass grow about 5 feet, " he chuckled.

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