Where do things stand at 2:30 p.m.?
Who would have predicted it? The Big and Little Riley offered a quick and devastating encore of its August 2007 flood only 3 1/2 years later.
The combination of a 6-inch-plus snowfall on Friday teamed with high temperatures over the weekend spell FLOOD in Bluffton.
To view flooding at Jefferson and Vance click here.
To view all other flooding videos click here.
To view photographs click here.
While Bluffton considers the impact of the water, downstream Ottawa and Findlay - we can only guess the impact to those communities.
We do know this:
o Interstate 75 closed both north and southbound lanes at the Bluffton Stone Co.
o Interstate traffic, for a time, was rerouted from Bentley Road through Main Street and onto Jefferson. The traffic jam was literally bumper-to-bumper for at least 45 minutes. The parade of stopped traffic extended from south of the Bentley Road interchange, through the village and on to Jefferson Street.
o Can it get any worse? Yes. Fast-flowing waters crossed the Jefferson Street bridge, causing the Interstate re-routing to completely stop. Traffic was eventually rerouted from Beaverdam onto State Route 235 north to Findlay.
oVance Street took a hard hit as all businesses there were closed.
oRiley Street took a hard hit as many low-lying residences on the north side of the street were engulfed with water.
oThe following Bluffton entrances and exits remain closed at this 2:30 p.m. report:
1 - North Main north of the bridge
2 - Jefferson Street at the bridge
3 - Cherry Street from Vance to the railroad
4 - East College Avenue including a portion of Triplett Drive to the railroad
5 - Bluffton University at West College Avenue between Centennial Hall and the bridge, between Riley Court and Marbeck and between Ropp and Bren-Dell and the old baseball diamond.
oBluffton schools were delayed and then closed, pushing the school year into uncharged June territory.
oThe number of basements with water damage is unavailable at this time.
NOTE: FOR INFORMATION ON SANDBAGS CONTACT THE VILLAGE OFFICE IN THE TOWN HALL.
