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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Mix saw thousands of dollars go down the drain when water didn't ... Fake grass offers real water savings ... Hosler Dam siren test due Monday ... Mix saw thousands of dollars go down the drain when water didn't ... Fake grass offers real water savings ... Hosler Dam siren test due Monday ... WEATHER Flash flooding washes through downtown Ashland Mix basement, Calle accumulated several feet of water Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jul. 8, 2015 at 2:17 PM Updated Jul 8, 2015 at 7:01 PM JD Anderson shot this video of rushing water flowing through Ashland's Plaza July 7. By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jul. 8, 2015 at 2:17 PM Updated Jul 8, 2015 at 7:01 PM » RELATED CONTENT Look ahead --> As of Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service Medford office forecast called for a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms during the day on Thursday, July 9, with a high near 81, ... » Read more X Look ahead As of Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service Medford office forecast called for a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms during the day on Thursday, July 9, with a high near 81, and 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 11 p.m., in the evening, with a low around 64. F Friday there's a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 11 a.m., and a high temperature of 79, with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11 p.m.  Saturday the chance of showers drops to 20 percent before 11 a.m., and remains at that percentage into the evening. The high temp is again forecast to be 79. • July 7 storm hits Ashland » Social News Ashlanders spent Wednesday mopping, shoveling mud and calling insurance agents after a gully-washer of a summer thunderstorm lashed the south valley with a spectacular display of lightening and dumped 1.64 inches of rain, much of it slamming Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Plaza shops.  Trees were blown down, home basements got soggy and a flash-flood — a foot or two deep in places — roared down the front and back of shops on the west side of the Plaza, submerging the lower level of the Mix bakeshop in four feet of water. City Parks & Recreation workers Wednesday sandbagged the rear of Mix, which had to be evacuated when the storm roared in at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday. City Public Works crews wrestled unsuccessfully Tuesday evening to lift the metal floodgate, said acting City Administrator Lee Tuneberg (city Administrator Dave Kanner is out of town). This left the gusher with nowhere to go but into the Mix basement. “It broke in our back door,” said Mix owner Jamie North, as she dried out appliances on Calle Guanajuato Way Wednesday. “We had an oven in there with 260 amps of power and were afraid people would be electrocuted." Surveying the Calle, attorney Lloyd Haines, who has properties by the North Main Street bridge, said redesign and engineering of the Calle area after the huge 1997 flood “was not sufficient to get water out of here.” Helping with mop-up, Mix co-owner Erik Brown said, “It was chaos. It was moving 400-pound appliances around like they were just floating stuff. The Calle is not handling the water. This little drain (18-inch square in corner of Calle) isn’t doing anything. I called Public Works and got a recording. We had hot electricity here and needed help.” The Mix lower level would be back in operation in a few days, he said. North, his wife, added sardonically, “This is really beautiful engineering.”  The Calle is considered a city park, so the surface of it is overseen by Ashland Parks & Recreation, while the flood wall and flood gate are handled by Public Works, said Michael Black, director of Parks & Recreation. Overseeing it all for now is Tuneberg, who is stepping in while Kanner is on vacation for a few weeks. “Typically, we don’t sandbag — and we’re not saying it’s being done because of a design flaw (of the Calle)," Black said. "We want shop owners to feel more comfortable. In a typical rain event, this does not happen. The issue of the floodgate, that’s a huge responsibility. You don’t want to lift it and have the opposite problem, water going from the creek into the Calle."  All relevant city departments inspected the Plaza Wednesday, said Tuneberg, “so we can discuss what happened and take steps to avoid it if this keeps up. The panel (floodgate) has been removed (by mid-day) and drains all cleaned out. It all happened so fast, a lot of water in a short amount of time, hardly anyone could take action.” If the problem (in the Plaza and Calle) calls for new engineering and design, he added, “we won’t have it today.” Public Works Director Mike Faught said crews were responding Tuesday to fallen trees and powerline breaks on North Main, Maple, Second Street and East Main and by the time they got to the Plaza, the fast-moving water had risen to maximum height and was falling. “We knew a storm was coming but we had no idea it would be a high-intensity flash flood,” said Faught. “By the time we got to the Plaza, most of (the flooding) was gone.” The Calle is already under study for some new design and engineering, he adds, perhaps including a pipe with “flapper valve” so water from the creek can’t go up into the business district and water from streets can go down into the stream. “(The storm) exceeded the 25-year storm by quite a bit,” he said. “It was just more than the system could handle.” Ashland Fire & Rescue got only six calls during the deluge, about fallen trees, downed power lines and flooding — and answered them all, says battalion Chief Dana Sallee. All were in the first hour of the storm. None were about fire. They respond to any call placed to 911, he said. However, 911 was deluged with calls from all around the county and many may not have reached 911, he said. “When the system is taxed like that, they have only so many lines,” he said. “We will decide if there’s something we can do and if so, we will do it." Theaters emptied Power was knocked out at the Varsity Theatre, according to Mark Schwartz, an Ashland visitor staying at a friend’s house on the west side of Lithia Park. “Projection stopped at about 8:10,” he wrote in an email. “I went out to the lobby and couldn't believe my eyes, it looked like a hurricane with water flooding down the streets like I have never seen in my entire life. I made it through a couple of blocks to my car and noticed that there was lots of hail, approximately 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch. The streets were empty and everyone was seeking shelter, including the cars.” Because of vigorously flowing water, mud and debris, OSF canceled Tuesday evening’s performance of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” offering refunds or vouchers to the audience, said Festival spokeswoman Amy Richard. “With thunder and lightening like that, it just was not safe,” said Richard, adding that, if the storm repeats, they would do the same with the Elizabethan Theater. “We’re doing quite a bit of mopping up today. There’s a lot of muddy debris.” It flowed into and under administration offices, the Black Swan Theater and shops under the Elizabethan Theater, she said. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. Tidings Editor Bert Etling contributed to this story.   By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Jul. 8, 2015 at 2:17 PM Updated Jul 8, 2015 at 7:01 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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