(Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection - Letter to the Editor)

(Sent June 23) Mr. McCrady,

As chair of the Stormwater committee, I am asking you to call a stormwater committee meeting, or better yet a stormwater town hall, where residents can discuss just how many streets and properties were affected by the storm Thursday.

Attached is a photo that I took of the stormwater river covering my drain on my city street, resulting in my basement flooding, for the seventh time in 13 months. I’ve lived here 23 years and we didn’t have this level of flooding before the City decided to put 2″ of asphalt on top of my concrete street 3-4 years ago, which raised the level of the street. The floods are eroding that asphalt, as well, so you can be sure that it won’t last its given life expectancy.

When my water detection alarms went off at 5:30 a.m. Thursday morning, I grabbed some clothes, shoes and my phone to come out, check the drain, and take the photo of the muddy flood in the photo attached. Then I went to the basement to start cleaning up the damage to my finished, carpeted, paneled and furnished basement.

Thursday turned out to be a beautiful day, and I had planned on coming to hear the Music in the City Park and perhaps take a lap around the new sidewalk around the revitalized pond. Instead, I spent about 14 hours vacuuming up water, with very few breaks. And the work continued Friday, and throughout the weekend.

It wasn’t just my house; almost every house on my street had its basement flooded, ruining flooring, furniture, paneling, and personal items. And much of those ruined items across the city are now sitting by the curb for trash pickup.

But it just wasn’t my street. I’ve heard that 16th Street, and 17th streets next to the Park, 18th Avenue, Broadway Avenue, even Park Avenue, where $250,000 was taken from the Stormwater Fund and put into the City Park pond, were flooded. It’s way past time that this administration put the needs of the residents before the wants of a few.

Some residents have told me that they may just move out of the city, because many issues affecting the entire city are not being addressed, nor even acknowledged. Just because the stormwater work across the city will take millions of dollars, doesn’t mean that progress can’t be made, one neighborhood at a time.

Instead of putting millions of dollars into city-owned property, like the pools, the slide, and the Parks, we need you to redirect energy and money into fixing neighborhood stormwater problems that are too large for any one household to pay for.

We pay every city employees’ salaries and benefits by our property taxes, the 1% sales tax, and if still working, the user fee. While the city has increased the value of city-owned properties with those improvements, our property values have declined because of the flooding problem, and the resulting damages to our homes. And, as you know, homeowners’ policies don’t cover flood damage.

I have already replaced gutters, downspouts, and waterproofed my basement. I am now asking myself when, not if, I will need to replace not only the carpeting, but also my furnace, water heater, furniture, and a support post in the basement, and how much it will cost? But what would be the point if the flooding continues?

Please prioritize those needing serious help, and let neighborhoods know where they stand. Put funding into stormwater management, not just lining existing lines, because those are few and far between on the southside of town. We need new drains where there are none.

Personally, my neighbors and I are not asking for much. Just some type of catch basin near the top of the hill, where Southmoor Heights meets Division Street Ext., pictured in the photo. Maybe even a drain completely across the entire street, because the other side of the street gets flooded, too. Like the one Lenore (?) Street received at Gihon Road. And then maybe, if we get another ice storm like we had there in January, the City plows won’t get stuck in the ice that formed in that “Y” dead-end on my hill.

And please, don’t tell me this was a one in a 100-year event. We ALL know that it is happening regularly. Changes in priorities are needed, and residents need to be heard.

Sue Ellen Waybright

Parkersburg