Although battered by storms for the majority of the day Wednesday, Starkville received some help from Mother Nature.
City Engineer Edward Kemp said Thursday no drainage system is designed to accommodate the amount of water that fell on Starkville this week. Flooding along Highway 182 and farther north made several intersections impassable. Police Chief David Lindley described the flooding as the worst he”s seen in 30 years. A resident at the problematic intersection of Long Street and Carver Drive, where entire roads and yards were swallowed, confirmed it was the worst flooding she”d seen in 10 years.
But, thanks to Starkville”s topography, the majority of the flood waters abated within 45 minutes.
“Starkville is different than Columbus topographically,” said Kemp. “Downtown Starkville is situated at the top of a hill, so everything drains away, typically in four or five different directions.”
The city”s Public Services Department does the best it can to accommodate the natural law of “water runs downhill,” clearing ditches and canals to open the exits. However, the system isn”t perfect and flooding plagues some parts of town during normal heavy rains, let alone a 30-year event.
“The old parts of town are typically where we have the most problems. There weren”t as many standards for pipes and drainage (when those areas were built.)” said Kemp.
Doug Devlin, Public Services department head, said storm water works its way into the sanitary sewer system at several problem areas, overflowing manholes in the streets and occasionally backing up into bathtubs in some homes.
Common problem areas include: Carver Drive, Peter”s Rock Temple Church of God In Christ on Highway 182, Woodcrest Drive, Edgewood Drive, Helen Circle, Critz Street and Eckford Drive.
Part of the problem stems from old, inefficient pipes, and part stems from roots growing into the pipes or clogging agents, such as grease and oil from cooking, being introduced to the sewer system.
The city budgeted $535,000 this year for sewer work, which includes installing new pipes and repairing old ones.
Once a year, specialty contractors are brought in to work in areas of town where pipes are especially difficult to access. Devlin said the city compiles a list each year of where the work is most needed in order to save the expense of mobilizing the contractors and their heavy equipment multiple times.
Kemp said the city keeps an eye out for problematic pipes and gathers input from citizens on which areas exhibit the greatest need.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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