County will spend thousands repairing flooded gravel roads

By JOHN YATES
Special Correspondent

March 21, 2008 10:40 am

— Two of Pittsburg County’s three districts could spend more than $25,000 to replace rock and gravel that washed away from county roads and around tin horns in this week’s heavy rains.
And that’s not counting district three, which includes areas west of McAlester, that were heavily affected by the rains.
Pittsburg County District Two Commissioner Kevin Smith said there was some damage in road cuts and some rock washed off tinhorns but he said he wasn’t aware of any major bridges in the county having been swept away.
He said that in his district alone, replacing rock and gravel could cost as much as $15,000.
Crews from District Two will focus their efforts on the worst roads, Smith said.
Meanwhile, District One County Commissioner Gene Rogers, out of the county and unavailable Thursday, but his foreman, Donald Mathis, said there is damage crews will have to deal with.
“We’ve just been overrun with calls,” Mathis said Thursday.
How much rock and gravel will be needed in District One? “It’s going to be quite a lot,” he said — as much as $13,000.
District One crews likewise will attack the worst roads first as they work to clean up from this week’s unusually heavy rainfall.
District Three Commissioner Randy Crone was unavailable for comment on Thursday.
According to the National Weather Service, some areas in Pittsburg County had more than 6 inches of rain fall during the storm. At the Mesonet station in McAlester, 5.32 inches of rain fell during a 48-hour period from Thursday to early Saturday. Other rainfall totals for that period include Eufaula, 5.77 inches; Stuart, 5.38 inches, Talihina, 5,12 inches, Wilburton, 5.11 inches, Stigler, 4.56 inches and Calvin, 4.39 inches.
The weather service says the next chance for rain in McAlester is Easter Sunday, which is expected to be partly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of rain showers. It is expected to be cooler with highs in the lower 50s.