It’s been a dry summer around Coldwater until Friday morning when Mother Nature tried to make up for the lack of rain in just a couple of hours.
The rain started at about 9:00am and increased in intensity. Slow moving thunderstorms led to a lot of rain in a short amount of time. The Coldwater B.P.U. Wastewater Treatment Plant measured about 3 ½ inches of rain in less than two hours.
According to some estimates, maybe as much as five inches of rain fell in southern Coldwater. A couple of listeners posted on our Facebook page that they measured six to seven inches of rain.
Several parking lots flooded due to the excessive runoff and storm drains backed up.
Some businesses in downtown Coldwater reported flooded basements.
There were also power issues. Over 1,200 Consumers Energy customers in Branch County were without power until early afternoon.
Problems with an underground cable led to an outage in the U.S. 12 and Willowbrook Road area for some Coldwater B.P.U. customers.
Driving around Coldwater was no fun as a three mile section of I-69 was closed due to downed power lines south of U.S. 12. Southbound traffic was detoured off at U.S. 12 while northbound traffic had to exit at Fenn Road. Traffic was jammed up throughout the Coldwater area on Friday. City officials at mid afternoon took to social media asking drivers to avoid driving through town if possible.
