UPDATED: About 80 percent of county has serious flooding

Updated 3:45 p.m. June 9

Our weather watching friend, Joe Wilson, tells us that the first nine days of June have brought unprecedented rainfall to the New Albany area. As of today, June 9, at 1:00 p.m., 11.44 inches of rain have fallen. Yesterday alone, on election day, there were 4.45 inches of rain.

Union County Emergency Management Director Curt Clayton said at least 40 roads in Union County were underwater in four of the five supervisors’ districts Wednesday morning.

Between fielding non-stop phone calls for assistance, Clayton said that at mid-morning seven roads in the First District, 19 in the Second District, seven in the Third District and 7 in the Fourth District were underwater. Only the First District in the northeast part of the county escaped.

Here are the roads that are underwater and not safe for travel:

First District: County Roads 18, 14, 7, 299, 54, 3 and 75

Second District: County Roads 87, 47, 102, 97, 100, 94, 90, 88, 89, 96 and 16

Third District: 148, 143, 117, 107, 116, 108 and 218

Fourth District: 185, 171, 253, 193, 188, 216 and 268.

At least three drivers had to be pulled out after ignoring the danger of the high water, he said.

Clayton said Board of Supervisors President Steve Watson was on the way to issue an emergency declaration and ask the governor for a state of emergency.

He said there is no way yet to tell how much damage had been done to county roads. “There’s just so much water.” He added that they may not know for awhile because “The water has nowhere to go.”

In New Albany, the section of Main Street under the Tanglefoot Trail bridge flooded yesterday and at least one motorist got stuck trying to drive through the two-to-three feet of water. That section of the street was prone to flooding for years until larger culverts were installed, but the creek beside the library parking lot was covered and unable to handle the excess.

Areas such as The Park Along the River, which often flood, were under water as well.

“All I can say is turn around, don’t drown,” Clayton said. Even shallow water may conceal road damage that can lead to trouble for someone venturing through it and a rule is thumb is that one foot of water is enough to float a vehicle.