As water receded off the Raccoon Creek Bridge on the Green Street Road east of Centralia this morning, damage could be seen to the pavement. It’s also unclear if there was damage to the bridge itself from the heavy flooding over the past two days.
As a result, Marion County Sheriff Kevin Cripps says the Green Street Road will remain closed east of Central City until sometime Monday, when the bridge can be inspected and any repairs can be made to the surface.
The water levels began dropping quickly when Centralia Water Plant officials closed all three open gates around seven Sunday morning.
Old US 51 between Community Beach Road and the Centralia Water Treatment plant has reopened.
Other low-lying roads may still be underwater as the flood waters drain.
Central City plans to reopen streets leading to flooded homes on the northeast side of town as water levels drop. Until then, they are barricaded shut with no entry allowed. Several tickets were issued overnight to violators.
There was a successful water rescue from a vehicle submerged on Norton Road overnight. The Centralia Fire Protection District had difficulty reaching the scene and used a boat from the Centralia City Fire Department as part of the rescue effort. No injuries were reported.
The Centralia Water Plant, which has stationed a person at the gates until the water level comes down, indicates the lake has fallen to 14 inches below the spillway by seven am, allowing the gates to be closed. Centralia received another 1.14 inches of rain in the 24-hour period ending at seven Sunday morning for a two day total of rain of 6.05 inches and 7.42 inches for the first five days of April.
The water level at the Salem Reservoir continued to drop during the day on Saturday and was just 5.5 inches above the spillway at seven Sunday morning. The reservoir hit a record high 32 inches over the spillway, breaking the gauge and causing major flooding along its route through Bryan Memorial Park, along North Broadway to the Starlight Mobile Home Park that had a mandatory evacuation. There were water rescues from one of the mobile homes when water was estimated at four feet deep and from a house on Boone north of College Street when water had risen to the level to pour into the home.
The Salem Water Plant recorded 1.17 inches of additional rain in the 24-hour period ending at seven Sunday morning for a two day rain total of 6.28 inches and 8.39 inches of rain for the first five days of April.
