During a July 8 meeting of the Coffee County Commission, Emergency Management Agency Director Larry Walker addressed commission members to discuss excessive rainfall during the Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Walker said the weather did knock some trees and limbs down, but luckily Coffee County avoided serious structural damage and reported zero injuries.
However, heavy rains soaked the area during the first week of July.
According to Walker, Enterprise received a little more than 5 inches of rain during the entire month of June, but received 7.8 inches of rain in first week of July alone.
New Brockton received only 5.3 inches over the Fourth of July weekend, a total Walker said could have been affected by a rain gage that was temporarily clogged.
More rain is expected throughout the week, and Walker said July could easily see some unusually high rain totals.
In other news, Commissioner Dean Smith and Sherriff Dave Sutton discussed the problems caused by mud riding in the area, which is typically a problem after a large amount of rainfall.
Smith said he has received several calls about county roads being torn up because of mudding riding in pickup trucks and on All Terrain Vehicles (ATV).
According to Sutton, sheriff’s deputes have a hard time stopping mud ridding because there aren’t many laws on the books to charge offenders with.
“A lot of time we can not get even get our vehicles down to where they would be without getting stuck,” Sutton said. “It’s tough to pin that on somebody, but we’re working it the best we possibly can.”
Sutton said the only current laws ATV operators can be charged with are safety equipment violations.
“They’re tearing up county roads and riding through other peoples’ fields,” Smith said. “We don’t want people taking things into their own hands. This is something we need to work on and I’d like to enlist your help with that sherriff.”
Sutton added his deputies are dispatched through the Elba Police Department and weekend calls for the CCSO should be made to 897- 2555 or 897-1300.
In other news, Coffee County Extension Coordinator David Garrett presented the junior and senior 4-H Livestock judging teams to the commission members.
Both teams received high rankings at the Alabama South District 4-H Livestock Judging competition June 27.
The senior team won its event overall, with several team members finishing strong individually.
Stan Windham, director of program operations for the Alabama Extension System, thanked the commission members for their continued support of 4-H students and agriscience education.
“A lot of the success of these young people is due to your support,” he said. “Not just your financial support, but the investment you make in them. “We have a healthy and safe place to raise children in Coffee County.”
In other business, commissioner Kevin Mitchell recommended Erica Massey be appointed to the Department of Human Resources’ board of directors.
The Coffee County Commission will meet again at 9 a.m., July 23, in the community room at the Coffee County Complex.
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