Hanceville Mayor Kenneth Nail, second from left, called the city to action to help community member Lynda Brown. / W.C. Mann
HANCEVILLE – On Friday morning the rains fell on Cullman County…and fell, and fell. Several low-lying areas of Hanceville had begun to experience street and yard flooding, when someone noticed that water was quickly approaching the front door of Lynda Brown’s home at the intersection of East Railroad Avenue and Edward Street.
When Mayor Kenneth Nail was notified of the situation, he moved into action quickly, taking a substantial portion of Hanceville’s city government and service personnel with him.
Nail explained, “When we got there, it was probably 2 or 3 inches from her door, so we put the all-call out for all departments, and everybody came: police, fire, public works. We utilized inmates; the sheriff sent a few people down. city hall workers came out, the court magistrate, records clerks. Everybody came out, and started trying to help. We made up several hundred sandbags within a short period. It was one of those situations where we saw it was rising, and we knew we had to act fast.”
As the workers and volunteers got to work, the rain eased, allowing the waters to recede slightly while the crew sandbagged the front of the house.
“Thank the Lord that the rain slacked off a bit,” said Nail, “but we were in the process of sandbagging, so we continued to sandbag, because the ground is saturated and there’s supposed to be several rain events over the next couple of days.”
The east side of the railroad track has long been a trouble spot during storms.
Local citizens took to social media after the storm, to react to the city’s response:
“Hanceville has a great Mayor and great team when help is needed. Been there, great city”
“True public servant sir. Thanks for helping Lynda!”
“Thanks to all who is out working in these conditions to help others in our community!!”
“Mayor, you are a man with a true servant’s heart. Proud of the job you are doing for your city and (its) people.”
Homeowner Lynda Brown posted her own comments: “God answers prayers! Praise His name. Water was about to come in and started receding. We are supposed to have more rain, so please keep praying. Thanks to everyone. To Kenneth Nail and all who helped bring sandbags in to go around the house and everything that's being done. Just pray.”
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