MIDDLETON, Tenn. — Days of rain caused some raids to flood out in Hardeman County on Friday.
Peavine Road remained impassable at a section near Pocahontas.
“There’s quite a few that travel through here to go to Bolivar to work and back every day. It’s a heavy use road throughout day and night,” Huey Downen said.
Christen Crigler, a freshman at Middleton High School, said she took the bus Friday morning.
“There was a good amount of water flying up from tires from the bus today. I didn’t feel really safe today riding the bus,” she said.
Instead, she called her mom, who picked her up early rather than risk it with the buses in the afternoon.
“My kids texted me and let me know. If there was an issue [schools] should’ve been closed. Better safe than sorry,” Paige Crigler said.
She was not alone. Parent Andy Pickens didn’t think Hardeman County roads were safe enough for anyone to drive on Friday, especially for kids going to school.
“The student drivers, I know because I have one myself, and I worry about her because she thinks she’s bulletproof for sure,” he said.
WREG spoke with Superintendent Warner Ross by phone. He didn’t want to do an interview, but said he assessed the roads early Friday morning with law enforcement partners.
They only saw a handful of road closures due to flooding and determined it affected a small number of students who were used to finding alternate routes.
Parents called that a misjudgment.
“There are areas dangerous and overlooked out in the county people don’t see,” Pickens said.
Ross said all Hardeman County after-school activities would happen under regular scheduling Friday.