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Flash flooding from weekend rains measuring in excess of seven inches in some areas of Guthrie County resulted in harrowing and costly experiences.
After drizzle and periodic rain Saturday, the cloudburst began late Sunday morning and continued through the night into Monday.
At the Guthrie Center weather station, 7.39 inches of rain were collected over the weekend.
Flash flood
A Guthrie Center couple, Tim and Mary Benton, experienced the potential danger of flash flooding when they were isolated from their home at the west edge of town Sunday afternoon.
A creek that flows through their back yard and into the South Raccoon River to the east was rising when the Bentons decided to round up their two horses, and one they are boarding for a friend, and also their two goats.
"We have a 40 foot bridge over the creek which is three to four feet deep and bone dry about 90 percent of the time," explained Mary. The 10 year old bridge is substantial, she said, with I-beam construction and 500 lb. iron railings.
The water was rising rapidly when they crossed the bridge into their pasture and the swollen creek waters soon began flowing over the bridge trapping the couple and animals.
"We tried to get out to the west into the city maintenance facility property, but we had nothing to cut the fence," Mary related. They eventually crossed into a field northwest of their property and trudged one-half mile north to 222nd Street which runs along the north side of the old city airport.
Someone, not the Bentons, called to report their plight and the Guthrie Center Fire Department responded.
"Their hats and 4-wheel drive vehicles scared the horses," Benton recalled. Although not really needed, the assistance was appreciated.
"We all got our exercise," said Mary who later found out the water did not reach the horse shelter.
Over the last 15 years, the Bentons have seen the South Raccoon spill from its banks a number of times. This was different, however. "This all came from the west. Before, it's usually been the river backing up into the creek."
The Benton home on Highway 44 was not endangered as they several years ago remodeled and raised the foundation. In fact, Mary related, their sump pump never came on.
Nevertheless, she said after seeing several seven inch rains, she never wants to see a 10-inch downpour.
Road damage
Replacement of a tube that washed out on Frontier Road near 292nd Street, five miles north of Adair and six miles south of Highway 44, will cost between $150,000 and $200,000, Guthrie County maintenance supervisors Randy Clipperton estimated.
Clipperton said plans were to reopen the road Tuesday afternoon.
"Our big river bridges survived, but a number of smaller bridges, culverts and pipes were badly eroded by rains ranging from 5 to 7 inches," Clipperton stated.
The road maintenance supervisor said in addition to Frontier Road, the Bagley blacktop and Fansler Road were closed off due to storm water as well as a number of gravel roads throughout the county.
In all, he estimated damage from the flooding in the vicinity of $300,000.
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©Guthrie Center Times 2009
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