Area flooding refills local reservior

By MARTY VAN DUYNE and URIAH A. KISER

Published: May 14, 2008

STAFFORD — Nearly four inches of rain fell on the area during a torrential downpour Sunday night.

But although the driving rain hammered away at the temporary repairs made to homes in the aftermath of the May 8 tornado, the clouds had a silver lining. 

By late Monday afternoon Kellogg Mill Road was closed to through traffic as Abel Reservoir had swollen its banks.

The reservoir had been at it driest level in five years last summer, prompting five months of mandatory water restrictions throughout the county which ended in February. 

“The new rainfall means that the reservoirs are completely full,“ said Cathy Riddle, spokeswoman for Stafford County.

Waters were so fierce in the wake of the recent deluge that the Kellogg Mill Road Bridge, which spans across the reservoir, was flooded out.

After the waters receded, Virginia Department of Transportation crews were dispatched Tuesday to clear debris and reopen the bridge.

Once reopened, VDOT engineers did not feel the need to perform a safety inspection of the bridge, according to Tina Bundy, spokeswoman for VDOT.

Prior to the storm, a notice was included in county utility bills urging customers to conserve water; something the county says is still a good idea.

“No one has an infinite supply of water, so we have to take measures now to use water wisely so we can ensure that we will always have enough water to meet all of our customers’ needs,“

Riddle said the county would be launching a year-round water conservation program later in the year.

Bundy said that all county roadways, with the exception of River Road in Falmouth, have been reopened to traffic at the time of this report.