A deadly drenching rainstorm pounded Miami County for more than three days last week, causing the Marais Des Cygnes River and Pottawatomie Creek to rise to levels not seen in Osawatomie since the 2007 flood. Miami County Road and Bridge Director, J.R. McMahon, says aside from repairing the shoulders of some gravel roads, potholes, and culverts topped with flood waters, Miami County’s Road system escaped the flooding with relatively minor damage. The worst spot was a 3 mile stretch of unpaved Somerset Road south of 375th Street. The road takes a beating every time the area floods, not from excessive water necessarily, but increased traffic that uses it as one of the only connecting routes between Linn and Miami Counties that isn’t cut off by rising water.
The county’s road and bridge department closed Carey’s Bridge, located on 335th Street west of Pressonville Road, due to structural damage from the flooding. The bridge will be closed until further notice. City Manager Don Cawby estimated total rainfall in the area between 10 and 15 inches.
