Public Works departments prepared for more storms

COLE COUNTY Mo. (KMIZ)

Torrential rain hit Jefferson City Sunday night causing roads to flood and debris to line the streets.

Britt Smith, the operations division director for Jefferson City Public Works said "it might've been the most intense storm he's seen in his career."

Smith said some of the main issues surrounded culverts and inlets being blocked.

An inlet is the opening to the storm drain on a curb and a culvert is a larger pipe or opening along a road or elsewhere that leads to a bigger water body.

When debris washes down stream, it gets caught in the inlet or culvert and that will back up the rain water and cause flooding.

The Jefferson City Public Works Department saw major run-off and flooding and dealt with many trees down blocking roads.

Smith said last night was a real "gully washer."

"The term gully washer comes from the standpoint that all that old wood gets washed in especially whenever the levels exceed where normal water runs and starts picking up more and more debris and that debris, ultimately ends up in a culvert someplace so we had multiple coverts that got blocked last night," Smith said.

More storms could move in tonight and throughout the week. Both Smith and Larry Benz, the Cole County Public Works director said right now their teams are ready to help with any flooding or debris blocking roads.

"As we saw yesterday in Jefferson City, there were a number of people who tried to go on those roads with water that was too deep for cars, drowned out and then had to be rescued - so it's not worth it," Benz said. "It's expensive not only getting your car repaired, but also you know it ties up emergency response personnel trying to get these people out there safely."

Smith and Benz say never drive through a flooded road - turn around, don't drown.