Pawnee County Hit Hard With Rain, Flooding

The flooding in Cleveland Wednesday night washed away several roads in Pawnee county, including the bridge on 5200 Road.

One man came back to recall the memories of all the time he spent working to keep the bridge intact.

"Disappointment,” stated Clarence Smith, former foreman of Pawnee District 1. “See all my work go down the creek."

Smith is the former Forman for Pawnee County who helped install two ten-hour horns along the bridge on 5200 Road. He came by the creek to remember how much work was put into the road.

"It's gonna take them awhile because they've gotta get dirt and rocks,” said Smith. “It may be closed for a while."

5200 Road is one of the many streets in Pawnee county that was closed off because of flooding. The Cleveland Police Department says they've been working to make sure roads are safe to drive on.

"If you don't need to travel, don't travel,” said Cleveland Police Chief Clint Stout. “You're not only putting yourself in danger but others and if you get stranded, and then, first responders have to risk their lives to come save you."

10/4/2017 Related Story: Heavy Rain Causing Flash Flooding In Green County

Chief Stout says they've seen a few people drive around flashing lights and barricades today while they were trying to shut roads down, so they are warning people to be cautious because you never know how deep the water is or if the roadway is even there.

"I personally was shutting down streets today and had people that just wanted to ignore my emergency lights and try to go around me into rushing water,” said Stout.  

City and county officials are just asking the public to be patient with them as they continue to deal with all

the problems that the water has caused.

"I've lived here for 12 years and I've never seen this much water this fast,” Stout added.

Many people, like Chief Stout, said they've never seen anything like it.

There are several other areas around the county that experienced flooding so it's hard to tell the full extent of the damage at this time.