Lee dumps heavy rain in Hartselle
Hartselle and Morgan County residents got a taste of cabin fever over the Labor Day weekend as they remained inside and resigned themselves to be content listening to and watching the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee perform its continuous rain dance from noon on Sunday to noon on Tuesday.
During that 48-hour stretch rainfall totaled from 5 to 8 inches in most North Alabama counties. In Hartselle, from midnight Sunday to midnight Monday, it rained 4.5 inches, according to records kept at Hartselle Utilities’ wastewater treatment plant.
The rain was a welcome sight to many as it ended a three-week dry period and raised hope for the fall crops of farmers and gardeners.
“I’m not aware of any flooding problems caused by the rain,” said Hartselle Mayor Dwight Tankersley. “It came slow enough so that much of it soaked into the ground before it ran off in drainage ditches. It was good news, too, because we needed a good rain.”
General Manager Ferrell Vest said HU had a couple of issues with respect to infiltration of surface water overloading sewer- pumping stations.
“We had a couple of employees on duty to prevent the stations from overflowing,” he said, “and we had an overload at the wastewater treatment plant and had to divert some of the water into holding ponds.”
The extended weather forecast for Hartselle calls for plenty of sunshine with gradually increasing temperatures over the next 10 days.
