Floodwaters rose close to road level at the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue after heavy rains fell in Oak Ridge on Saturday afternoon and evening, April 22, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge emergency workers responded to a car crash that injured two people, two fallen trees, and a possible apartment complex evacuation due to flooding during the severe thunderstorms on Saturday.

Heavy rain from the storms led to widespread flooding in Oak Ridge starting late Saturday afternoon. The water appeared to have receded in places a few hours later, or by early Saturday night.

Emergency workers made preparations Saturday evening to possibly evacuate apartments on Royce Circle, where water covered part of the roadway and rose near the first floor of an apartment complex at the northeast end of the circle. The apartments, which are next to Robertsville Road and just east of Willow Brook Elementary School, are in a low-lying area between two creeks that flow down along Jefferson Avenue and intersect with East Fork Poplar Creek, which was swollen with floodwaters on Saturday.

Authorities had made preparations to see how many people lived on the first floor of the Royce Circle apartment complex in case the residents had to be evacuated, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. Of the 10 people there, all but one had another place to go, he said. Authorities were watching the water, Kerley said.

“We think it’s receding,” he said Saturday night. [Read more…]