April Showers Become Deluge

Fairhope, Alabama fairhopetimes@att.net

A strong Spring storm brought a possibly record-setting 7.9 inches of rain and high winds to Fairhope overnight, causing streets to flood and some tree damage; the accompanying cold front is expected to drop temperatures to near-records tonight.

Normal rainfall for the entire month of April is 4.4 inches.

A cedar tree (hollow inside, possibly termite-infested) fell across the road at the beachfront park and the beach itself took another beating from the strong northwest winds; but the new drainage catch-basin north of the duck ponds appeared to prevent the usual red clay from sliding onto the road there -- and into the ponds and bay.

There is evidence the new basin overflowed at some point during the night however, and some of the fill-dirt/material used to fill in the bluff there is sliding down into it.

Red clay and sand from the bluff is still coming down onto the road at numerous points south of the new drainage project, however.

A homeless cat living in a shelter north of the ponds, being cared for by the Fairhope Cat Coalition, survived the storm -- and seemed unconcerned.




MAGNOLIA BEACH TAKES ANOTHER HIT

The storm further eroded the north Magnolia Beach area, but apparently did no damage to the public boat ramps or piers.

(The city is currently making plans to address the chronic erosion problems there.)



OTHER AREAS


Bohemian Park on Hwy 48 east of town was still under several feet of water before daylight this morning.

A manhole was overflowing on Middle St (@ Dogwood); and the yard of a problematic Cedar Ave. house (click) appeared to have flooded again, based on debris observed there this morning. The city is pursing a EPA hazard-mitigation grant to purchase the flood-prone property, which has a long history of water coming into the home.

A small wall fell at the Dog Park, but the new drainage ponds and basins nearby seemed to be working as planned. They were installed about 2 years ago as part of the Volanta Gully Drainage Basin improvement plan, to slow storm water velocity downstream.

The dog park is closed until repairs can be made.




Bohemian Park


Middle St.


Cedar Ave.

Dog Park


cat



Comments

Anonymous said…
That cat needs a boat.
Anonymous said…
Great, the feral cat survived! Now it can go back to what it does best--eating migrating birds. And decimating the native herps and mammals. On public land nonetheless!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/outdoor-cats-kill-between-14-billion-and-37-billion-birds-a-year-study-says/2013/01/31/2504f744-6bbe-11e2-ada0-5ca5fa7ebe79_story.html
Anonymous said…
That's ok Kant will kill the birds anyway.