May 16--The sausage and eggs were ready and the 110 or so employees of Collierville's Public Services Department were set to romp after breakfast Friday morning at their annual equipment rodeo.

Then hail began tapping on the roof, more than 13/4 inches of rain poured down and gusting winds are believed to have been responsible for flinging a 12-foot long, 2-inch by 6-inch plank as well as tree debris on to the department's parking lot on Keough Road.

The equipment rodeo, which would have included attempts to use a Gradall, which can excavate earth, to drop a dozen tennis balls into a 4-inch tube, was canceled.

For some workers, duty called as cracked trees or flash flooding blocked streets.

"Some of the guys didn't even get to eat," said Bill Kilp, public services director.

The short but intense storm seemed to save its biggest punch for the area within blocks of the public services building, home to the department for about seven years.

"That's the hardest I've seen it rain here," said Clay Holabird, public utilities engineer.

A plumbing fixtures manufacturer, IPS Corp. on nearby Industrial Park Lane, shut down for the day after about two inches of water flooded the plant floor and more invaded its parking lot for a time.

"We were all just amazed," said Angie Duborg, inventory planning analyst at IPS.

For the public services employees, the festivities would have ushered in National Public Works Week, which begins Sunday.

The American Public Works Association calls the week a celebration of those "who provide and maintain the infrastructure and services collectively known as public works."

Robert Norfleet, 49, a veteran street department truck driver, helped clear a tree and limbs from two streets and wound up the morning as one of those sweeping the department parking lot.

Fridays are normally 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. days for the workers, who have 91/2 -hour shifts other days. They were allowed to leave an hour early on Friday, Kilp said.

"It's a headache at times," Norfleet said of his job. "But it's a good place to work."

-- Kevin McKenzie: 529-2348

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