By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
It’s funny the way things can hit some folks, and leave others completely untouched. Take, for instance, the weather. While mowing the grass on Saturday, I was hit with a torrential downpour. I was already soaked through by the time I turned around and headed toward the building, so I decided to try and finish in the rain. I did the best I could, but missed some spots because of water on my glasses obscuring my view. I finished it up on Sunday before more rain hit that evening.
Our driveway was a little rutted when I went out on Monday morning, but we were none the worse for wear otherwise.
I couldn’t say the same for some of the lower lying areas. I saw garden plots completely washed out as I headed into town for the day – the work of a season lost overnight.
There was clear evidence of flooding as well. Mud from the rising creeks could be seen in the roadway on sections of SR 955, along Porter Creek and Jacobs Branch, and water was reported to have nearly reached the porch of the Daniel’s Grocery store along the route.
Evidence of creeks overflowing their banks could be seen as well along Soldier Branch, where it parallels SR 174, and the ironically named Dry Branch, SR 1626, which wasn’t so dry on Monday morning.
County road crews spent part of the morning cleaning up county roads in the Porter Creek area, according to Jason Carroll, and electrical crews, as well as crews from Rowan County Water, were seen inspecting the impact of the rains and making repairs.
The rains came heavy, and quickly, and the impact was substantial in some of the southwestern portions of the county.
But, as I sat down for lunch at Tyler’s on Monday, I heard a gentleman at another table saying that he was in desperate need of rain.
I understood where he was coming from. Until the skies opened up and gave me a gullywasher on Saturday, I was looking for rain too. Once the creek gets down to separate holes of water, without a steady flow, I begin to fret about the availability of water for wildlife. I’d already started to notice more deer clustering in the bottom, near one of our deeper holes, and I’d seen several turkey in the same area recently too.
But mostly I wanted it to cool things off, and to alleviate the need to carry milk jugs of water around to my potted plants and trees. I finally got the rain I needed, and a little extra. For those who got even more, I hope the damage wasn’t too significant.
For those still looking for rain, I hope you get yours soon, but not too much too quick.
Candidates
I recently received a letter asking about candidates for non-partisan offices, such as mayor and city council, who have filed to run for office since the last report prior to primary elections. I have received confirmation from one candidate who is running for the mayor’s seat in Olive Hill, and I have heard reports that someone has filed to run against city councilman Troy Combs in the Grayson mayoral race. By the time you are reading this, I will have requested an official list of candidates for those offices and will run those names in the next issue after I receive them.
Jeremy D. Wells can be reached at editor@cartercountytimes.com