BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – If you live or work in Birmingham, you’ve probably dealt with the flooding problems that pop up during these sudden summer storms.
City leaders hope to begin alleviating that problem by agreeing to spend $750,000 to address issues with storm water drains.
The Birmingham City Council approved two agreements at their meeting on Tuesday. The first will help repair storm water drain covers in emergencies and the second will help locate blockages within storm sewers using fiber optic cameras.
With the city’s public works department already operating at full capacity, the agreements are with outside experts in the hope that these problems can get fixed quicker.
City Council President Darrell O’Quinn said a lot of the storm water infrastructure is nearing a century-old, adding it put people to work during the Great Depression, which is why we’re consistently dealing with problems.
“We’ve had so many high-intensity thunderstorms recently where you get several inches of rain just in the span of minutes,” he said. “That’s an opportunity for flash floods. It seems like every time we have a storm system pass through, I’m getting flash flood alerts.”
Capital Projects Director Denise Bell shared during the council meeting that some of these storm water drain projects are also considered safety issues for internal personnel, which is why they sometimes need experts to take on the task.
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