Big Water — Firemen look over water covering the bridge and a good portion of the roadway on Ridge Glen Road last Wednesday morning after the remnants of Hurricane Frances soaked Alleghany.

Frances soaks Alleghany

Close to eight inches of rain soaked the area on Sept. 7 and Sept. 8, leaving the several low-lying areas flooded and closing 12 roads — three until further notice — as the remnants of Hurricane Frances passed through Alleghany.

Reports of up to one foot of rain were given by various sources in some areas of the county, but those numbers could not be confirmed. As for the roads, the list released by the N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) originally listed nine roads — Brush Creek, Rifle Range, Elk Creek Church, Hooker, Rich Hill, Weaver, Barrett, and Farmers Fish Camp roads and Lake Drive. Three roads were later added, including Oklahoma Road due to a mudslide, as well as Foggy Mountain and Mountain View Church roads.

“Oklahoma and Foggy Mountain Roads are closed indefinitely and some of the bridges that were damaged are in the process of being repaired,” Emergency Management Coordinator Gerald Leftwich said Tuesday. “We’re in good condition, considering other counties,” he further commented. As of Tuesday night, in addition to Oklahoma and Foggy Mountain roads, Weaver Road also remained closed. According to information from the DOT, that road was still under water.

“Cherry Lane, Roaring Gap and Glade Creek got more rainfall than the upper part of the county, but the upper end of the county had extensive flooding due to intensive rain in Watauga and Ashe Counties,” he said. Despite the New River and numerous area streams overflowing their banks and several local bridges being covered, no home evacuations were performed.

“The emergency operation center was partially opened around 2 a.m. Thursday morning,” said Leftwich. “A state of emergency was declared for the county on Wednesday, (Sept. 8) at 9 a.m. and ended on Sept. 9 at 8 a.m., following a state-wide decla

Above left: Lincoln Bou Nassar, 56, of Sparta, was traveling west on Rich Hill Road when his vehicle entered this hole in the road after hitting water on the bridge. Nassar was not injured.

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