On Wednesday, December 10th, a large drainage culvert collapsed as a result of flooding from an intense winter storm, closing the parkway at milepost 279.5, in Lee County, Mississippi. Over the course of a 24-hour period on Tuesday and Wednesday, the area received six inches of rain, which quickly exceeded the capacity of area culverts and canals. A sinkhole approximately 14 feet deep and 16 feet wide was created on the eastern road shoulder when the culvert collapsed. Crews worked into the night to set up a nine-mile-long detour on rural county roads. The parkway will be closed in this area until further notice pending repairs. On Thursday, all three states that the parkway traverses received varying amounts of snow and ice, a rare event for the region. Rangers responded to several accidents, including one that was fatal. Osler Ocampo, 40, of Waynesboro, Tennessee, was heading north on the parkway when his Honda went off the road and hit a tree. High winds also caused dozens of large trees to fall across the parkway from milepost 0 to milepost 240. Maintenance and fire management saw crews worked continuously through the day to clear the trees and keep the highway open. Several areas, including park headquarters, experienced power outages caused by falling trees. The entrance gates on the northern end of the parkway near Nashville were closed due to three to five inches of snow.
Ruby: 1.8.7, Rails: 1.1.6