Washed-out road is safe, says official (UPDATED VIDEO)

A section of Ben Williams Road, 0.2 miles from Halls Mill Road, was covered with a 30-foot wide body of moving water about two feet deep Friday, and there were no warning signs to advise drivers of the road's condition.

UPDATE: As of 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, the road was still open despite even stronger current running across it:

According to Bedford County Highway Superintendent Stanley Smotherman, this section of Ben Williams Road in rural Bedford County is safe. Water about two feet deep and 30 feet across moves over the roadway. No warning signs are posted. Smotherman says the county closes the road when the water level is high.
(T-G Photo by Brian Mosely)

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"You can get your car across it. I cross it all the time," Smotherman said, adding that farmers take heavy equipment through the water-logged road on a regular basis.

The highway superintendent said the road has a solid blacktop underneath the moving water.

However, Smotherman said when there is major flooding, the county closes the road. He added that the possibility of a new bridge for the road has been looked at in the early 1990s, but the cost was "astronomical."

According to the National Weather Service, floods kill an average 127 Americans each year, and four-fifths of these victims die after walking or driving into moving water.

On New Years Day in 1990, a Tullahoma man drowned after he attempted to drive across a flooded bridge outside of Wartrace and his vehicle was swept off the road.

Forecasts for this week indicate that as much as 4 inches of rain could fall between now and early Wednesday.