Published: June 4,2015
This
photo provided by the Wyoming Highway Patrol shows a portion of a
bridge over railroad tracks on the north side of the small eastern
Wyoming town of Lusk that was collapsed by flash flood waters.(Wyoming Highway Patrol via AP)
About 6 inches of rain fell in Lusk Wednesday night. By the time the rain ended, a bridge had collapsed, homes were damaged and even the city’s water supply wasn’t safe to drink. There were no reports of anyone being hurt.
Emergency responders brought in drinking water as crews worked to restore wells that supply Lusk's water system, he said. Plus, road closures on Thursday cut off in all directions the town along a normally tiny Niobrara River.
A curfew was in place overnight Thursday.
The Town of Lusk has initiated a city-wide curfew for 9:00 pm tonight.— Niobrara Sheriff (@NiobraraSheriff) June 4, 2015
"We got a lot of debris, lot of damage," said Santistevan, who could not estimate how many homes or businesses were damaged.
About a dozen state National Guard members were sent to help, and the Red Cross opened a shelter for about a dozen displaced residents.
The storm stalled over the area around 9 p.m. Wednesday and didn't relent until after midnight. In just one night, the area got one-third as much moisture as it typically gets all year.
The flooding caused a highway bridge to crumble onto some railroad tracks below just north of downtown.
Burrows said U.S. 85 south of Lusk to Lingle was open to local traffic only while other motorists were being stopped from using the highway because of the collapsed bridge.
It was too soon to determine how long it would take to repair the bridge, he said.
"That's a pretty major project," he said. "Right now people are going to have to make plans, and it's going to involve a pretty large detour."
More rain is possible for the region this week. Get the very latest at the weather.com severe tracker.
MORE: Tornadoes by Month
No comments:
Post a Comment