Water swamps parking lot, doesn't get inside city eatery
Snack-N-Pack saw more flash flooding Monday evening in its parking lot, but avoided water in the building, according to the store's owner.
Owner Karen O'Donnell said it only took about 8 to 10 minutes for hard rain to overwhelm the storm drainage system at the intersection of North Elm and East Jefferson streets.
“It throws all the water over here, so it rolls in like wakes,” O'Donnell said.
The six-pack store, bar and grill combo was not so lucky last month when a similar storm brought a couple of inches of water inside, forcing the store to close for the evening to clean up.
O'Donnell said the storm drains are easily overwhelmed across the street, and her store stands in the middle of the path of least resistance as the water rushes from Institute Hill to the creek behind the store.
O'Donnell said she has contacted city officials who told her the pipe attached to the storm drains was reduced to a 12 inch size, but she did not know what it had been in the past. She said she considers it a factor of the recent flooding.
“These last two times are the worst I've ever seen it.”
O'Donnell said the city completed road work last year on the Monroe Street intersection, which may have been when the smaller pipe was installed, and Butler Memorial Hospital made an addition that could be creating more stress on the system. She said it's clear that too much water is passing through the drains.
O'Donnell said she sees potential for the flooding to get worse, including more damage, but she said her insurance does not cover flash flooding.
“There's no coverage for that runoff,” she said.
O'Donnell said she plans to continue talking with city officials until her questions are answered.
“I think that the system is old and it kind of needs replaced,” O'Donnell said.
Public works officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
