Several Denton County roads remain closed as crews deal with damage from the last storm and await the possibility of more in the coming days.
Oliver Creek Road west of Justin was one of the hardest hit spots on Sunday, as flood waters from the creek below it washed away a large portion of the road and bridge deck. Crews have closed off the road as they work to remove debris and assess how bad the damage is there.
Most of the affected roads are in the county’s west side from Justin to Krum and Sanger where some of the strongest storms and flooding situations hit between last Thursday evening and Sunday.
On Tuesday morning, the County Commissioners’ Court approved a local disaster declaration to send to the state. Governor Greg Abbott also issued a similar declaration to the county and several others.
Denton County Judge Mary Horn said the declaration is just the starting point for efforts to get federal funding to help cover the overtime put in by crews fixing and addressing all of the damage, but it will require action by the president before that happens.
Meanwhile, County Commissioner Andy Eads said his crews are out in full-force working to locate all of the problem spots, keeping in mind that more could be coming with rain forecasted for the week.
County Emergency Management Coordinator Jody Gonzalez said the latest forecasts to his office from the National Weather Service show an improvement in the outlook with potential rainfall totals lowering from the 10 inch range to only the six inch range now.
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However, Gonzalez and the commissioners urge residents to continue to obey road closures and barricades while crews work to get to all of the damage.
"Those roads are closed for a reason,” said Gonzalez. "Maybe that bridge is not safe to travel across or it maybe it hasn't gotten time to inspect yet for damage. We've got a lot of damage and we've got damage that we can't even really see yet because it's still under water."
Commissioner Eads points out the good news for the county so far is that no serious injuries have been reported and no fatalities have occurred as a result of the storms.
