Floods wash out roads, closes schools in Salem

SALEM - The rain came down for nearly 48 hours across our area.  That left a lot of water needing somewhere to go, and those places ended up being outside the Roanoke River’s banks in Salem.

From the Mill Street bridge, to the Colorado Street Bridge, and a number of other places along the river, water washed up debris and flooded streets.

Diane Vanluven says she’s lived in Salem for three years, and had never seen anything like what she saw on Thursday.  “It’s kind of scary and exciting all at the same time,“ Vanluven said.

Diane told me she tried to track the flood progress herself, by putting a stick up.  At 9:00 a.m. Thursday she said sh saw about four feet of it.  By the afternoon, there wasn’t much visible.

The Riverside Trailer Park area had high water temporarily block access to the road out.  Firefighters showed up around 8:00 a.m. Thursday morning to let residents know they had about an hour to get out if they wanted to.

Some who live at the trailer park said hey had seen this type of flooding before, and were not worried about it.  Others told me Thursday was the third time they’ve been evacuated, so they moved their cars and waited for the water to recede.

Salem City School closed two hours early on Thursday, due to the flooding.  City spokesman Mike Stevens says schools will open on time Friday.