Man rescued from deep water running across road

Two days of steady, and often heavy, rains have flooded parts of Lawrence County.

According to a U.S. Army Corp of Engineer’s water guage for the Ohio River, more than five inches of rain fell from late Friday to Monday morning.

The heavy rains lead to flash flooding, closed roads and in at least one case, a person having to be rescued after his vehicle was caught in rising water.

On Monday afternoon, an elderly man had to be rescued from his car after he drove into high waters on County Road 69 in the Proctorville area. He was uninjured.

Lawrence County Engineer Patrick D. Leighty said there were several roads closed on Monday due to high water.

“We had to close Hog Run Road early in the day, but it was reopened in the evening,” he said, but added on Tuesday he expected it would have to be closed again. “I think it is about to crest with backwater from the river.”

He said one big area for flooding was around Symmes Creek-Indian Guyan roads in the eastern end of the county.

“That’s where the majority of the flash flooding was,” Leighty said. “Indian Guyan Road was where they had to do a high water evacuation of that man.”

Other spots that were closed were on County Road 121, on County Road 64, on County Road 67,” he said. “The water was flowing pretty strong on those roads.”

Leighty said that no one should ever drive into water when it is flowing across a road.

“Please, don’t do that. Take the little bit of extra time and go around,” he said. “You may think it is just a few inches, but if the road dips down, there could be a lot more water than you are estimating. It could set your car floating.”

He said during flood season, the water could also be running stronger than expected and carry your car off the road. He said he has experienced sliding when it is snowy or icy but has never experienced his vehicle being floated off the road. He said you see stories about it on the news all the time and sometimes the story ends with someone winding up dead.

“We don’t want to see that happen,” Leighty said. “And we don’t want anything to happen to someone. If there is water running across the road, don’t take a chance.”