Flood waters receded across Scott County Sunday afternoon, but left several damaged roads, flooded basements, and other minor damage in their wake.
The Scott County Road Department worked throughout the day Sunday to reopen roads that were temporarily closed by the flooding, but some damage remained as the sun went down. Bull Creek United Baptist Church, south of Huntsville, canceled Sunday evening services after part of the road near the church began to slide away.
At one point Sunday, several roads were closed. Flood-prone roads like O&W Road in Oneida were closed, and also closed were roads with tree damage due to the heavy rains and soft grounds. S.R. 297 through the Big South Fork River gorge was temporarily closed by the National Park Service due to downed trees.
Additionally, widespread power outages occurred throughout Scott County Sunday morning, some due to transformers being struck by lightning, and others due to trees that uprooted in the soggy ground. At one point, more than 5,000 homes and businesses were without power throughout Scott County.
More than six inches of rain fell in places over a 12-hour period beginning just before midnight Saturday night. The National Weather Service had issued a Flood Watch for Scott County and surrounding areas at 8 p.m. Saturday evening, after indications began to grow that thunderstorms might train over the area during the overnight hours. That is exactly what transpired, especially during the last hours before dawn Sunday morning. A Flash Flood Warning was issued and remained in effect until 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
At the Scott County Airport in Oneida, 6.12 inches of rain fell over the 12-hour period from midnight to noon. Added to lighter rain that fell earlier Saturday, more than 6.5 inches of rain fell over a 24-hour period.
To put the magnitude of the rainfall into perspective, more rain fell in a 12-hour period Sunday morning that had fallen during the entire months of May and June combined up to that point.
The Big South Fork River was nearing a crest at 24.7 feet near sunset Sunday evening, up almost 20 feet in a 15-hour period. The streamflow of 36,100 cubic feet per second (cfs) smashed the record for the date of June 28, and was the highest streamflow on the BSF River in 3.5 years, dating back to January 2023.
Further upstream, New River was nearing a crest at 22,800 cfs, and Clear Fork crested at 5,770 cfs, as measured at New River Bridge and Burnt Mill Bridge, respectively. Both sites broke single-day streamflow records for the date that were set in 2018.
