The Tuscarawas Valley welcomes the first day of spring today with a mixed bag of weather and the continuing effects of several days of rainfall and melting snow. Wednesday’s rainfall, heavy at times, gave way to snow Wednesday night.

 

Numerous road closings have been reported, reminiscent of the flooding conditions of January 2005 that saw record elevations behind area dams, including Bolivar, Beach City and Dover.

 

Dover Dam’s pool of record is listed at 907.35 feet of elevation on Jan. 16, 2005, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its pool level Wednesday night was 900.36 feet.

 

Based on projections, and because of preventative measures taken by township officials, it appears the Wilkshire Hills area in northern Tuscarawas County won’t be isolated by floodwaters as it was in 2005.

 

Patty Levengood, director of the Tuscarawas County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, announced Wednesday that an emergency connecting road between N. Orchard Rd. (County Rd. 103) and Glen Park Dr.

 

(Lawrence Township Rd. 617) was opened for passenger vehicle use only. The connecting road traverses Bolivar Dam to Gracemont and Sherman Church Rds. in Stark County and would not be covered by water if current projections are met, Levengood said.

 

She said the access for residents of the Wilkshire Hills area would be maintained through the crests of floodwaters behind Beach City, Bolivar and Dover dams, which are expected to occur early next week. Trustees in Fairfield, Lawrence and Sandy townships are to maintain the connecting road as needed.

 

Officials, however, do expect the village of Zoarville will be isolated, and the I-77 interchange at Rt. 212 at Wilkshire Hills will close because of high water.

 

Firefighters in the Zoarville area have established a vehicle parking lot and a walking path into the village off Tusky Valley Rd. near the railroad tracks. Zoarville residents were encouraged to move their vehicles to the parking area and to use the walking path.

 

Meanwhile, increased water levels on the Tuscarawas River downstream from Dover Dam, which were expected to rise about 6 inches above flood stage overnight Wednesday, should begin falling this morning.

 

Capt. Jim Parrish said the New Philadelphia Fire Department had two briefings conducted Wednesday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and has been assured that the flood situation won’t be as bad as the one in 2005.

 

Parrish noted that firefighters visited Pines Mobile Home Park off Mill Ave. SE near the Tuscarawas River and passed out information to residents should they need it. He said most mobile homes were unaffected by high water Wednesday but said some were “pretty close.”

 

Firefighters and police officers also were watching the Shel-Mar Mobile Home Estates area off E. High Ave. and New Towne Mall off Mill Ave. SE where flooding didn’t appear to be a problem.

 

Whether flooding will become a problem today “depends on how much rain we get,” Parrish said.

 

Capt. Mike Mossor of the Dover Fire Department said firefighters Wednesday assisted the city’s service department in installing a pump at the retention pond on Oxford St. behind the Oxford Medical Building.

 

Mossor said his department, because of road closings, will provide emergency medical and fire coverage for the Zoar and Bolivar fire departments in portions of Lawrence Township and the Dover-Zoar Rd. area.

 

Levengood also announced that her office has opened the county’s Emergency Operations Center to assist officials and residents with information and other needs. The EOC will remain open 24 hours a day until the situation has improved, possibly through the weekend. The EOC can be reached by calling (330) 308-6655.

 

Peggy A. Noel, chief of the Public Affairs Office of the Huntington (W.Va.) District Corps of Engineers, stated that the Corps, while continuing to minimize flooding effects throughout the Muskingum basin, is maintaining increased releases from Dover and Bolivar dams “due to forecasted rainfall and concerns for public safety.”

 

Noel noted that public safety is the Corps’ No. 1 priority and that in-depth engineering studies after the record flooding of January 2005 enabled Corps officials to determine how much water can safely be stored behind area dams without risk to the public.

 

The controlled releases of 5,800-cubic-feet per second at Dover Dam and 2,000-cubic-feet per second from Bolivar Dam, along with uncontrolled runoff, could result in water in and around mobile homes and dwelling additions, water in basements and in downstream fields, according to Noel.

 

Affected will be the low-lying areas along a 17-mile stretch of the Tuscarawas River between Dover Dam and the junction of Stillwater Creek. As water levels behind the dams continue to rise, roadways, particularly behind the Dover Dam, will be affected.

 

For a list of road closures, residents may consult the Tuscarawas County Sheriff Department’s Web site at www.co.tuscarawas.oh.us/sheriff.

 

The department list of closings includes the following:

 

County Rds. 16, 30, 32, 33, 34, 37, 73, 81, 83, 86, 89, 90, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 112 and 113; Wayne Township Rd. 62; and Township Rds. 329 and 348.

 

As of Wednesday night, the Ohio Department of Transportation, District 11, also provided the following state road closures: Rt. 212 in Carroll and Tuscarawas counties, from Rt. 542 in Carroll County to Rt. 800 at Zoar in Tuscarawas County; Rt. 39 in Carroll County, expected to be closed east of Dellroy at Dellroy’s elementary school; Rt. 542, Carroll County, to be closed about a mile north of Dellroy and near Magnolia; I-77 northbound exit ramp at Bolivar; Rt. 151, Harrison County, restricted two miles east of Bowerston near Conotton; Rt. 520, Holmes County, restricted at Rt. 62 south of Killbuck; Rt. 60, Holmes County, restricted north and south of Killbuck in three places; Rt. 643, Holmes County, restricted just south of Rt. 557; Rt. 93, Holmes County, restricted about a mile north of Baltic; Rt. 62, Holmes County, restricted in two places between Killbuck and Rt. 83; Rt. 258, Tuscarawas County, closed between Stillwater and West Chester and closed at Dunlap Creek near Postboy; Rt. 800, Tuscarawas County, to be closed south of Mineral City, but will remain open north of Mineral City.

 

ODOT officials said no official detours are posted and all roadways will be reopened as soon as possible, but expect the restrictions to be in place through the weekend.

 

For a complete listing of road closures and restrictions due to high water and flooding, visit www.BuckeyeTraffic.org.