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Water rushing over the Huntsville Dam caused parts of Huntsville Road to be closed Friday in Kingston Township.
Clark Van Orden/The Times Leader
JACKSON TWP. – Most major streams and creeks in Luzerne County stayed within their channels except for Huntsville Creek, which flooded Hillside Road and a section of Chase Road near the five corners at the Huntsville Dam.
Township Supervisor John Jay Wilkes said the creek began flooding around 2 a.m. Friday due to excess water spilling over the dam.
Colleen Stutzman, assistant regional director for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the Huntsville Reservoir was 9 inches above normal around 2 a.m.
“There are no issues with the dam,” Stutzman said.
The dam is classified as a high-hazard dam, not because of its age and structure, but because of the potential risk downstream in the event of a failure, Stutzman said.
Wilkes said a county engineer inspected the dam early Friday and found no structural problems.
“We were up there (Friday) morning with a county engineer and we didn’t see any problems,” Wilkes said. “Water is coming over the full spill way; that doesn’t happen all the time. It is something we expected within the 12 hours after the rain stopped.”
White sandbags, stacked two high, were placed down the center yellow line of Hillside Road and appeared to contain the flooding waters to the northbound lane.
“We’ve been here and the fire department’s been here and the state prison in Dallas has their community group helping us,” Wilkes said. “It appears Hillside Road will be closed at least until Monday.”