Severe Thunderstorm Watch issued March 22 at 5:43PM EDT until March 23 at 12:00AM EDT by NWS Wilmington OH (details ...)
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 73 IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT TONIGHT FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS
IN INDIANA THIS WATCH INCLUDES 8 COUNTIES
IN EAST CENTRAL INDIANA
FAYETTE UNION WAYNE
IN SOUTHEAST INDIANA
DEARBORN FRANKLIN OHIO RIPLEY SWITZERLAND
IN KENTUCKY THIS WATCH INCLUDES 3 COUNTIES
IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY
BOONE CAMPBELL KENTON
IN OHIO THIS WATCH INCLUDES 32 COUNTIES
IN CENTRAL OHIO
DELAWARE FAIRFIELD FAYETTE FRANKLIN HOCKING LICKING MADISON PICKAWAY UNION
IN SOUTH CENTRAL OHIO
ADAMS HIGHLAND PIKE ROSS SCIOTO
IN SOUTHWEST OHIO
BROWN BUTLER CLERMONT CLINTON HAMILTON WARREN
IN WEST CENTRAL OHIO
AUGLAIZE CHAMPAIGN CLARK DARKE GREENE HARDIN LOGAN MERCER MIAMI MONTGOMERY PREBLE SHELBY
THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ABERDEEN, ADA, ALEXANDRIA, AURORA, BATESVILLE, BEAVERCREEK, BELLEFONTAINE, BELLEVUE, BLANCHESTER, BRIGHT, BROOKVILLE, BURLINGTON, CAMDEN, CELINA, CHILLICOTHE, CIRCLEVILLE, COLDWATER, CONNERSVILLE, COVINGTON, DAY HEIGHTS, DAYTON, DELAWARE, DILLSBORO, DOWNTOWN CINCINNATI, DOWNTOWN COLUMBUS, DOWNTOWN DAYTON, EATON, ERLANGER, FAIRBORN, FAIRFIELD, FLORENCE, FORT THOMAS, FRANKLIN, GEORGETOWN, GREENDALE, GREENFIELD, GREENVILLE, HAMILTON, HIDDEN VALLEY, HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, HILLSBORO, INDEPENDENCE, KENTON, KETTERING, LANCASTER, LANDEN, LAWRENCEBURG, LEBANON, LIBERTY, LOGAN, LONDON, MANCHESTER, MARYSVILLE, MASON, MIDDLETOWN, MILAN, MILFORD, MINSTER, MOUNT CARMEL, MOUNT ORAB, MOUNT REPOSE, MULBERRY, NEW BREMEN, NEWARK, NEWPORT, OAKBROOK, OSGOOD, OXFORD, PEEBLES, PICKERINGTON, PIKE LAKE, PIKETON, PIQUA, PLAIN CITY, PORTSMOUTH, RICHMOND, RIPLEY, RISING SUN, SEAMAN, SIDNEY, SPRINGBORO, SPRINGFIELD, ST. MARYS, SUMMERSIDE, TIPP CITY, TROY, URBANA, VERSAILLES, VEVAY, WAPAKONETA, WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, WAVERLY, WEST COLLEGE CORNER, WEST JEFFERSON, WEST UNION, WHEELERSBURG, WILMINGTON, WINCHESTER, WITHAMSVILLE, AND XENIA.
32° 32° Mon 47° Mon 47° 29° 29° Tue 53° Tue 53°
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

Wabash River dams pass inspection

By Nancy Allen
Three dams built on the Wabash River to control residential and agricultural flooding were deemed to be in good shape following a tour Tuesday by local and state officials from the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Jim Will, district conservationist for Mercer County, Jim Bennett, district conservationist for Darke County, and other state NRCS officials participated in the tour along with Wabash River Conservancy District board members Wally Broering, John Fortkamp and Don Schoenlein.
"It went fine," Will said of the tour. "The main purpose is to take a look at the three dams to make sure they are all still safe and not in any danger of breaking down."
The river has three earthen dams, built in the early 1960s, The first is south of Eldora Speedway in Darke County, the only to contain water year-round; the second is on Watkins Road between Township Line and Post roads in Mercer County; the third is off the east side of State Line Road south of Barger Road in Mercer County.
Will said NRCS engineers had a few suggestions for conservancy members, including cutting down a few, small dead trees growing at the base of dam 3, filling groundhog holes in dam 2 and clearing a few small areas of brush in the river.
Will said the conservancy also may want to speak with Eldora officials about moving a fence on the property line between the race track, which also is the edge of the emergency spillway at dam one.
"If it (emergency spillway) runs very full, it could cause the water to swirl and eddy and move and weaken the dirt on the emergency spillway," Will said, adding that the matter does not need immediate attention.
Will said he can only remember one time (1998) in the last 20 years that the emergency spillway had water in it. The emergency spillway routes excess water around the end of the principal spillway and into the river to keep the dam from overtopping during events of extremely heavy rain, Will said. It is a safety feature built into all NRCS dams.
Normally the Wabash River dams are inspected in the fall, but officials this year checked them in the spring to beat a deadline imposed by Congress to have inspection reports on all dams nationwide filed by this summer.
Conservancy members also were told to begin sending annual dam inspection reports to the state NRCS office in Columbus, rather than just keeping them on file locally, Will said.
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Archive of April 9th, 2008
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The driver implicated in a March traffic accident that claimed the lives of four area men faces 16 additional charges, including several related to drugs, in the wake of a special grand jury session this week. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
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