Turkey River no longer wild

ELGIN - Sighs of relief were almost audible along the Turkey River on Friday morning as residents learned that less-than-anticipated rainfall amounts Thursday night had yielded reduced crest projections.

'Yesterday everybody was pretty nervous. Today we are relaxed and ready to move on,” said Matt Ellis, chief of the Elgin Fire Department and the ranger at Fayette County's Gilbertson Park.

By mid-morning Friday, the Turkey was falling at Elgin and points upstream, and residents were busy preparing for the town's Homecoming Celebration, held every five years.

It was more or less business as usual a few miles upstream at Clermont, where Terri Baker, co-proprietor of Skip-A-Way campground, was registering guests.

About 75 of the facility's 172 camper spaces had been evacuated on Thursday as the Turkey rose out of its banks. But Baker said she expected those spaces to be reoccupied by midweek.

Damage was minimal, she said, unlike in 2008, when the Turkey's record flood inflicted more than $1 million damage to Skip-A-Way.

Fayette County's roads were far less fortunate. More than 200 stretches of road in the county were damaged after heavy rains, totaling from 3 to 5 inches, fell Thursday afternoon, according to County Engineer Al Miller.

More than 60 road segments were still closed Friday afternoon, he said.

Though some bridges were damaged, none was lost, according to Miller, who said a dollar amount of the damage will not be available until next week.

'That last shot of rain Thursday night was much less than predicted. That was a life saver,” Miller said.

The National Weather Service on Thursday night projected a 23.3-foot crest at Elkader. But by Friday afternoon the agency reported that the Turkey had crested there at 18.55 feet.

'So far, so good, but with saturated soils, elevated river levels and predictions of more rain this weekend, we still need to watch out,” said Elkader City Administrator Jennifer Cowsert.

Similarly, at Garber, where the Volga River joins the Turkey, the NWS had projected a 26.4 foot crest, which had been downgraded to 24.5 feet on Friday afternoon.

In Garber, a smiling Boonraksa Menge, proprietor of the Anchor Inn supper club, said she was pleased that no sandbagging was required to keep the nearby Turkey River out of her premises.

Menge, whose popular restaurant has been heavily damaged by major floods in 1999, 2004 and 2008, said she has repeatedly rebuilt her flood-prone business because she loves her customers.

Fayette County Emergency Management Director Mike Foland said county residents had suffered no flood-related injuries, but two people and two dogs had been rescued from rapidly rising flash floodwaters on Thursday.

The Fayette County Sheriff's Office said deputies, with assistance from first responders and bystanders, rescued Deangelo Bivins of Westgate after his vehicle stalled in water flowing across Highway 93 west of Fayette.

They also rescued Stephanie Delagardelle and her two dogs from a nearby residence after floodwaters started pouring in the front door, the Sheriff's Office said.