DAYTON, Tenn. — Rhea County creeks rose but did not flood during recent rainstorms, officials said last week.

“We had no flooding event whatsoever during the recent rain events,” Rhea County Executive Billy Ray Patton said. “They (the creeks) are doing excellent.”

In 2003, Graysville was hard hit by Roaring Creek flooding.

A year and a half later, Rhea County crews cleared brush, stabilized creek banks, placed rock baskets to prevent the creek from overflowing, removed debris and pushed the creek back toward its original channel — away from Pikeville Avenue.

Two years ago, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation ordered officials to restore part of the creek. The work went outside the area permitted by the state, officials said.

Since then, county, city and state officials have wrangled over the fate of the creeks and future flooding projects.

This spring, Rhea County proposed a task force to discuss a regional flooding plan.

The task force, planned by state Rep. Jim Cobb, R-Spring City; Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, and Rep Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, “hopes to meet soon,” Mr. Patton said.

“We’re hoping as a result of this task force we’ll be able to get a permit to do (flooding) work,” he said.

Meanwhile, Roaring Creek in Graysville and Richland Creek in Dayton — another frequent flooder that has had work done — have met city residents’ and government expectations.

“They’ve done well, said Billy Cranfield, director of the Rhea County Emergency Management Agency. “I kept my eye on them, they’ve done real good.”

Kenneth Cross, a La-Z-Boy employee who moved near Roaring Creek about nine months ago, said recent rains caused no problems.

“When I moved here everybody told me about the flooding and we got flood insurance,” Mr. Cross said. “Last month, I just seen it rise up, probably 6 or 7 feet, and it had steady flow through it, but we went four-wheeling and it didn’t even come up over the wheels.”

County officials say, though, the real test is yet to come.

“The only times we’ll have a lot of problems is when it drops 3 to 5 inches in a real short time,” Mr. Cranfield said. “We haven’t had enough water for it to cause us any problems.”