Centreville remembers flooding that helped change its course on the Cahaba River

CENTREVILLE, Ala. (WBRC) - The Cahaba River is cresting in Centreville after continuous heavy rain Sunday and Monday, but even though there has been some flooding onto roadways, city leaders say residents are safe.

The U.S. Corps of Engineers made a strategic move years ago to prevent a major flood in Centreville. In 1961 the Cahaba River became a swollen river, flooding a major part of Centreville.

The recent downpour left their mark on the Cahaba River in Centreville, a river that’s raging today, flooding low-lying areas like Stallings Road. But former Centreville Mayor Mike Hobson remembers a different time.

“It was 1961 and I was probably in the 10th grade at Bibb County High School,” says Hobson.

In October, 1961 the Cahaba reached a crest of more than 35 feet, high enough to flood the high school football field 200 yards away.

“Back in those days the Cahaba River flooded often,” Hobson says.

It was Mike Hobson who joined a few others and jumped off the goalposts, diving into what was a small lake on the football field with a depth of only three feet.

“Well, we weren’t very smart at that time. We all thought we had experience because we all dived in the creeks around here. We were not afraid, although we should have been afraid,” he says.

And being afraid is no longer the case today in Centreville. There is no real concern this kind of flooding could happen again. Current Centreville mayor Mike Oakley says the U.S. Corps of Engineers made a key move 15 years ago upstream where the Cahaba and the Alabama Rivers meet.

“Probably some silt work backing it up. The work the corps did really alleviated a lot of our problems,” says Mayor Oakley.

“Removal of stumps, limbs and obstructions,” says Hobson.

Today, the threat of another 1961 flood in Centreville has been largely eliminated, a threat Mike Hobson remembers all too well.

This week the Cahaba crested at little more than 35 feet. History shows it was even higher in 1902 when the river reached a flood stage at more than 36 feet.

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