Rain causes pause and refreshes

A clogged drainage grate turned part of William Street into a gushing waterway and blocked traffic for nearly an hour Tuesday afternoon, but for most in the Cape Girardeau area, the downpour was welcome.

According to Bill Vaughn with the city's development services department, excessive rainfall, littering and recent grass cutting along the roadside completely stopped up the grate, which is on William Street in front of Logan's restaurant.

"No water could drain, causing it to overflow out to the yellow line and block both lanes of westbound traffic on William," Vaughn said. "It was virtually impassable."

A local contractor finally came to the rescue, using a backhoe to dig out weeds, plastic shopping bags and mounds of plastic foam cups from the ditch.

"It was very threatening conditions to work in," Vaughn said. "There was water up to their waists and lightning all around."

Relief for brown yards

The 4.81 inches of rain that fell Monday and Tuesday delighted those nursing dried out, brown yards.

"It's a real blessing to get the rain. We definitely needed it," said Joe Touchette, owner of Plants Plus, a landscaping company.

The most significant rainfall in recent weeks had come July 20, and even that was less than half an inch. Overall, the total rainfall for July, a meager .81 inches, isn't close to the 9.23 inches that fell in July 2001.

"The ground is hard as a rock," Touchette said. "Plants were starting to shrivel up. Lawns were looking bad."

The city enjoyed a brief shower Monday afternoon, but it was nothing compared to the deluge of water, thunder and lightning that persisted through most of Tuesday.

Dennis Sleighter, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Paducah, Ky., said the downpour provided much needed relief, especially for parts of Southern Illinois where moderate drought conditions have prevailed.

Sleighter said the rain was sparked by an abundance of low level moisture and a cold front pushing through western Missouri.

"We're looking at the possibility of the front slowing down, which could mean heavy rain and possibly localized flooding," Sleighter said.

While the additional 4.81 inches is considered a good start, both Touchette and Sleighter said it won't solve the bulk of the problems caused by the recent dry spell.

"It's not nearly enough to recover from the lack of rain," Touchette said.

Rainfall has a big impact on businesses that mostly operate outdoors, but even they weren't complaining Tuesday. John Jansen, president of Columbia Construction Corp. in Cape Girardeau, said a lack of rain poses a safety hazard for workers because of the amount of dust it creates.

"Anyone who says we didn't need rain is wrong," Jansen said. "Local farmers were in dire need of rain. It was long overdue.

"I just wish we could work it out with the man upstairs to get a half inch of rain every week through the months of July and August. Then we wouldn't have anything to worry about."

cchitwood@semissourian.com

335-6611, ext. 128