Oak Ridge Today

Updated: Rain causing widespread flooding, road closures

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The Oak Ridge Police Department said road closures due to flooding on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019, include eastbound Highway 95 east of the Highway 95/58 split, pictured above; Gum Hollow Road; and Jefferson Avenue at Jefferson Circle and Royce Circle. (Photo courtesy ORPD)

The Oak Ridge Police Department said road closures due to flooding on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019, include eastbound Highway 95 east of the Highway 95/58 split, pictured above; Gum Hollow Road; and Jefferson Avenue at Jefferson Circle and Royce Circle. (Photo courtesy ORPD)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 2:45 p.m.

Days of continuous, heavy rain are causing widespread flooding and road closures in the area, including in Oak Ridge.

Late Saturday morning, the Oak Ridge Police Department said road closures include Gum Hollow Road, eastbound Highway 95 east of the Highway 95/58 split, and Jefferson Avenue at Jefferson Circle and Royce Circle.

“There are a number of flooded roads in Oak Ridge right now,” the ORPD said. “Please avoid areas with standing water and obey any road or lane closures for your own safety.”

Saturday afternoon, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said the ORPD conducted a water rescue at a partially submerged vehicle on Oak Ridge Turnpike (Highway 95) in west Oak Ridge.

The Police Department cited the advice that law enforcement officers and weather forecasters often give during flooding conditions: “Turn around, don’t drown.” [Read more…]

Trees fall, roads flood, driver escapes floodwaters as rains continue

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The driver was reported to have made it out of floodwaters before emergency responders arrived on Saturday afternoon, April 22, 2017, but her black Nissan Altima remained partially submerged on Airport Road near Oliver Springs on Sunday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8 p.m.

Roads flooded and trees fell—sometimes on homes, power lines, and roads—as rain continued to fall in East Tennessee on Sunday. One driver was reported to have escaped from her car in floodwaters on Airport Road near Oliver Springs on Saturday afternoon, but the black Nissan Altima remained partially submerged in the water on Sunday.

There appeared to have been at least 10 reports of fallen trees in Oak Ridge during the severe thunderstorms that started Saturday afternoon and continued with rain showers on Sunday. Most of those trees were reported to have fallen on homes, power lines, across roadways, or on personal property such as an automobile. There were five reports of fallen trees between about 3 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday, including a tree that fell across both lanes of Melton Lake Drive near Calhoun’s restaurant, causing a temporary closure of that two-lane road.

There were more reports of trees that had fallen but not damaged anything.

Large trees are falling due to excess rain, the City of Oak Ridge said Sunday. Electric crews have been out all night, and backup is on the way, the city said, but it may be tomorrow (Monday, April 24) before all power is back.

At various times on Sunday, there were reports of flooding or flood watches across Oak Ridge, including on Vermont Avenue, near Heritage Center (the former K-25 site), on California Avenue, and at Jefferson Avenue and North Jefferson Circle.

There were also reports of trees down and road closures in Clinton. Briceville Highway was reported to be closed in Briceveille due to sinking pavement on Sunday afternoon. Earlier Sunday, State Route 71 in Anderson County was closed for several hours at Norris Dam State Park because trees were blocking the road, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

Some school districts have announced they will be closed Monday. Roane County Schools said it will be closed due to “concerning road conditions throughout the county.” Anderson County Schools said it will be closed because of dangerous conditions with flooded roads and trees being down.

The National Weather Service in Morristown said a record for daily rainfall was set at Knoxville Mcghee Tyson Airport on Sunday. The NWS said 1.89 inches had fallen as of 5 p.m. Sunday, breaking the old record of 1.63 inches in 1977.

[Read more…]

More than 4,000 acres burned in Anderson County, state records say

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More than 4,000 acres have burned this month in four fires in rugged, forested parts of north Anderson County, state officials said Thursday. Smoke hangs high in the air above the mountains north of Oliver Springs on Thursday evening, Nov. 10, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 3:20 p.m. Nov. 12.

NEW RIVER—More than 4,000 acres have burned this month in five fires in mountainous north Anderson County, state officials said.

In Anderson County, 4,235 acres had been burned by the five fires as of Saturday afternoon, according to an update posted by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry. That was the most acres burned by fires that were still active in Tennessee on Saturday.

Arson is listed as the cause of four of the Anderson County fires, according to the update. Debris is the cause of another.

Smoke from at least two fires hung high above the mountains north of Oak Ridge and Oliver Springs on Thursday evening. It reduced visibility to a few hundred feet on the northernmost section of Highway 116 in rural Anderson County on Friday morning. Smoke was thick near a bridge at a 90-degree bend in the highway at the Campbell County line in northern Anderson County, irritating throats and making it harder to breathe. Firefighters said there was a nearby fire that they called Bootjack, up Stoney Fork Road, which goes north into Campbell County. [Read more…]

Garbage truck overturns in Oliver Springs

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Oliver Springs Waste Connections Truck

Photo by Kenneth Morgan

 

Note: This story was updated at 5 p.m.

A Waste Connections truck overturned on Tri County Boulevard at Windrock Road at about 6:30 a.m. Monday, authorities said.

Oliver Springs Police Chief Kenneth Morgan said the driver, Timothy Goodale, was taken to Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge with minor injuries.

Approximately 35 to 40 gallons of diesel fuel leaked onto the ground from the loaded truck, with some flowing into Indian Creek, Morgan said. Cleanup was provided by Waste Connections and performed by Hepco.

The Oliver Springs Police Department responded to the crash, and the Oak Ridge Fire Department HazMat team was called to help the Oliver Springs Fire Department.

Here are photos by Morgan and fire photographer Tom Scott.

[Read more…]

Windrock Memorial: ‘Proud to be a coal miner’s daughter’

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Windrock Coal Miners Memorial Unveiling

Family members press forward to find, touch, and take pictures of the names of their loved ones on the Windrock Coal Miners Memorial after it was unveiled Saturday.

 

WINDROCK MOUNTAIN—Today, it’s home to giant wind turbines that tower high above the Tennessee Valley and off-road vehicles that race up and down its gravel roads and steep slopes.

But 50 years ago or more, this mountain a few miles north of Oliver Springs was home to as many as 700 coal miners and their families. The mines have been closed for decades, but the memories have lived on, mostly in fond recollections and old black-and-white photos.

Windrock Miner's Memorial Groundbreaking

Pictured above are Carl Lively, right, who started working in a mine in Windrock Mountain north of Oliver Springs in 1939, when he was 16, and Manuel Tinker, who was born on top of the mountain and later worked in the mines.

Now volunteers are taking action to help preserve the history of the miners and their families. As part of that effort, they unveiled a Windrock Coal Miners Memorial wall on Saturday. It includes the names of more than 1,000 miners who once worked on the mountain.

The red brick-and-granite wall has been under construction for about six months, and several hundred people turned out for Saturday’s dedication ceremony at Lower Windrock at the end of Windrock Road, about three miles from downtown Oliver Springs. Some wept softly as they gently caressed the names of their loved ones on the memorial wall. Others proudly posed for pictures. It was an important day for many.

“It’s one of the greatest things that’s every happened to me, to see this,” said Carl Lively, 91, who started working in the mines on Windrock Mountain in 1939 at the age of 16. “We’re happy as we can be today.” [Read more…]

Volunteers dedicate memorial to Windrock coal miners today

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Windrock Miner's Memorial Groundbreaking

Pictured above are Carl Lively, right, who started working in a mine on Windrock Mountain north of Oliver Springs in 1939, when he was 16, and Manuel Tinker, who was born on top of the mountain and later worked in the mines.

 

WINDROCK MOUNTAIN—Volunteers who have worked for months to build a wall honoring more than 1,000 miners who once worked on Windrock Mountain north of Oliver Springs will have a dedication ceremony this afternoon.

The dedication and reception for the Coal Miners Memorial is scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. today (Saturday) at Lower Windrock in front of Union Valley Baptist Church.

Descendants of Windrock coal miners, retired miners, and many others have worked together raising money to build the red brick and granite wall. The names of more than 1,000 Windrock coal miners have been engraved into the granite. [Read more…]

Windrock Road fire burns unoccupied home on Sunday

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Windrock Road Cabin Fire

A Windrock Road fire on Sunday night burned an unoccupied home. (Photos by Tom Scott)

A Windrock Road fire on Sunday night burned an unoccupied home. The fire was reported at 7:55 p.m. Sunday at 805 Windrock Road.

There were no injuries, and the cause has not been determined, said Stephanie Fox, Marlow Volunteer Fire Department assistant fire chief.

The first firefighters to arrive on Sunday night reported that the house was completely in flames, fire photographer Tom Scott said. Fire engines weren’t able to drive up the home’s long, narrow dirt driveway, so firefighters had to drag a fire hose more than 700 feet by hand through brush and trees to get water on the house. [Read more…]

Fire destroys home on Hoskins Gap Road

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Jordan Alcorn at Hoskins Gap Road Fire

Oliver Springs Volunteer Fire Department Capt. Jordan Alcorn battles a fire that destroyed a home on Hoskins Gap Road near Winrock Road at about 7 a.m. Friday. (Photo by Tom Scott)

A fire destroyed a home on Hoskins Gap Road at about 7 a.m. Friday, but no injuries were reported.

The home was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived, photographer Tom Scott said.

The home is near Windrock Road and in the Marlow Volunteer Fire Department area, but firefighters from Oliver Springs also responded, as did Anderson County Emergency Medical Services and the Sheriff’s Department.

Two people were reported to have escaped the fire, which was apparently started by a wood-burning stove. [Read more…]

Pictures: Flooding on Windrock Road in Oliver Springs

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Windrock Road Flooding

Flooding along Windrock Road in Oliver Springs on Sunday afternoon after days of heavy rain.

Days of heavy rain that tapered off Sunday flooded streams and roads in East Tennessee, and caused many cities to reschedule their July 4 fireworks shows.

Here are two pictures of flooding along Windrock Road in Oliver Springs on Sunday afternoon. [Read more…]