Solving Broken Arrow's Flood Problem

Rain showers are a welcome sight for many in Green Country, but not for some people in Broken Arrow.<br/> <br/>Back in May, a huge rainfall overwhelmed a neighborhood sewer system and dozens of homes flooded

Wednesday, December 20th 2006, 11:18 am

By: News On 6

Rain showers are a welcome sight for many in Green Country, but not for some people in Broken Arrow.

Back in May, a huge rainfall overwhelmed a neighborhood sewer system and dozens of homes flooded in the Glen Eagle and Steeplechase subdivisions. An overflowing retention pond was the main culprit in the flooding, News on 6 reporter Steve Berg says itâ€™s doing okay now, but it needs improvement.

Tuesday night, as the rain began to fall, Karen Gardner got that feeling again.

"Now you have the fear every time it rains that, what's going to happen," said Gardner. "Every time, I could probably handle a tornado better than I can handle rain anymore."

Hers was one of the homes that flooded in this Broken Arrow neighborhood back in May. A monster rainstorm dumped as much as 7 inches of rain in just 3 hours.

Even Wednesdayâ€™s modest rainfall made its presence felt.

"Y'know it wasn't as bad, but it still got up on the streets because of the problem with the retention pond to the west of my home," Gardner said.

So, Broken Arrow City officials met with residents Tuesday, just as they have once each month since May, to talk about solutions. They have two plans; one is to make improvements to the existing storm sewer system. Another is to build a new sewer system along 41st Street and connect to Spunky Creek.

"It may be a combination of the two, but we are looking at a couple of different proposals," said Jeff Bigby, City of Broken Arrow Stormwater Manager.

Bigby says they don't know yet how much it would cost, or how it would be paid for, but if all goes well, he thinks it could all be done within a year's time.

"If we can get the design and get the funding in place and all the things we need to get going, we should be able to get something going there," Bigby said.

Gardner doesn't care what they decide as long it meets one requirement.

"I just want to be able to sleep at night when it rains," said Gardner.

The city has hired an outside hydrologist; they should have plans from him by the end of January.