Heavy rain washes out roads in Phillips

Phillips Fire Department photo

Heavy rains flooded several roads in Phillips early Saturday and washed out some of them, Phillips fire Chief James Gould said. One of the hardest hit was Wheeler Hill Road, shown here.

- Phillips Fire Department photo

PHILLIPS — A quick-hitting, heavy rainstorm flooded seven roads and washed some out early Saturday, Phillips fire Chief and Emergency Management Director James Gould said.

Firefighters were called out at 1:30 a.m. to assist the road crew.

"We had several severe thunderstorms," Gould said Saturday night.

Other towns in Franklin County were also deluged with rain, but he believed Phillips was the worst-hit.

The roads hit the hardest in Phillips were Tory Hill, Wheeler Hill, Salem/Route 142, Parlin, Madrid, Reeds Mill and Ross Avenue, he said.

"They were all under water and some were washed out, as well," he said.

In most case, they were reduced to one lane.

Tory Hill and Wheeler Hill were the most-damaged roads.

"On Wheeler Road you could stand in the road and it was head height," Gould said.

A 2 ½- to 3-mile portion of Tory Hill was washed out, but it was not as severe as Wheeler, he said.

Firefighters determined which roads were flooded and closed them. Road crews started cleaning the rocks, mud and trees out of the road, and didn't get done until 1:30 p.m., he said.

Where the water came down, it washed around some huge rocks, he said. Basketball- and softball-size rocks in the middle of Route 142 had to be cleared away.

It was said that 3.2 inches of rain fell in a four-hour period, Gould said.

"All the roads are open with one lane," he said. "All are passable but in pretty bad shape. It's going to take days to get them back. The road crews made sure everything was passable and safe and they are taking a well-deserved rest."

dperry@sunjournal.com