While other parts of the Southeast weren’t so fortunate, Cullman County escaped Thursday’s day of severe weather with no reported injuries or significant structural damage — even as flash floods stalled I-65 traffic and washed out a handful of county roads. 

Heavy rainfall posed the biggest problems for responders through Thursday’s storms, with Interstate 65 at the U.S. Highway 278 exit temporarily shutting down due to runoff storm water that flooded all four traffic lanes. Cullman Emergency Management Agency director Phyllis Little said recent commercial development along the Highway 278 intersection had altered the flood-mitigating natural terrain in the area, making flash flooding a recurring possibility along the interstate until ALDOT can figure out a permanent fix.

“We’re getting flooding that we’ve not had before at that exit,” said Little. “In my years with the EMA office, I’ve never seen flooding like that at the 308 exit in the past. There used to be a large grassy area there, and it served as a buffer for the local watershed. Development has replaced that grass with pavement and engineering, and when it rains heavily, the water doesn’t have a chance to permeate into the soil.

“It’s not anybody’s fault; it’s the result of commercial growth, and that’s life,” she added. “But we have to remember that, when we get these heavy rains, it’s going to happen again — and we need to be aware of that. ALDOT is working on a mitigation project for that area, because there’s pressure from Montgomery not to lose commerce from interstate shipping that’s being disrupted. But right now we don’t know a timeline on that, or how extensive the work will be.” 

Little said that portions of several rural county roads were washed out by Thursday’s flash floods, including County Road 730 at Welti, as well as  County Road 1668 south of Alabama Highway 69. “It’s going to take some time to repair the areas where wash-outs occurred, and those areas will likely be closed for a few days,” she added. 

“Last week, we saw anywhere from three to seven inches of rain fall in a short period of time across the county, and I feel we’re going to see rain totals from Thursday that fall in a similar range once again,” said Little, noting that additional thunderstorms forecast for the weekend aren’t expected to bring tornadoes — but could produce other problems. 

“If we get some gusty winds and additional rain, we could get trees downed with the ground already saturated,” she said. “In terms of severe weather for the weekend, we’re not expecting tornadoes. But there’s the possibility of strong to severe thunderstorms, so have more than one way of receiving weather alerts and be aware of the potential for flooding.”