A Blanchard community stand divided after heavy rains rip main road

UPDATE: This street has been repaired and is now reopened.

Blanchard's washout-damaged street reopens

A section of County Road 1322 in Blanchard has developed a hole large enough to fit a military tanker, residents say.

Blanchard resident Ryen Menefee told News 9 that the hole appeared small Wednesday night and didn’t raise much concern.

She said that by Thursday morning, it had grown significantly.

“I woke up to a phone call from my mom saying not to come home because of how much it had grown overnight,” Menefee said.

Menefee has been communicating with her parents from the opposite side of the road. She spent what was supposed to be her last day of high school as a senior buying toiletries and finding temporary shelter.

“I went over on the side, and they were standing on the other side, and I waved at them and stuff,” she said. “But like as far as my house, I’ve got like a rental cabin right now and I’m having to go buy a bunch of like mouthwash, toothpaste, toothbrush to keep myself good.”

Like Menefee, Brayden Gae has also been separated from his parents by the collapse.

“It’s been rough for sure,” Gae said. “Last night there was only a very small part, and I grabbed a bag of clothes and went to my buddy’s house, and that’s the best way I could do it, where I could still get to school and everything.”

Fiber-optic cables and fish—some dead and some still alive—were exposed as the road gave way.

A mail carrier was seen delivering to one side of the road but was unable to reach the other. She said mail for affected residents will be held at the post office until it can be safely delivered.