The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Spartan Village residents breathed a sigh of relief on Friday.
A day after firemen evacuated more than 20 people from the neighborhood and a volunteer drove a hover craft down Madison Avenue, the waters had receded.
“I’m feeling blessed,” resident Lonzena Hankins said. “Very, very blessed.”
Just three months ago, a heavy rain storm sent as much as three feet of water into many of Spartan Village’s 69 townhouses. Hankins and her neighbors counted losses worth tens of thousands of dollars, including cars, clothing, furniture and appliances.
With help from the city and Virginia Beach nonprofit Operation Blessing, residents had completed some repairs by this week. But they worried that the storm would set them back.
On Friday, roof shingles and wet newspapers littered the street. Siding ripped from a house cluttered a yard, and split trees drooped to the ground.
However, floodwater that had crept up driveways within feet of doorways, hadn’t seeped inside, Hankins and her neighbors said.
“It got to the back of the car there, and that’s it,” said Nickie Green, pointing to a silver car in his driveway. “It wasn’t as bad as August.”
Amy Jeter, (757) 446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com
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Kingfish
I totally understand the pitch & slope of drainage piping on systems that are at or lower than sea level. So are you saying that it's OK for the Planning Department and City Council of a city to approve development in an area, knowing that the designed sewer system would not be able to handle large amounts of water in storm cases? At the time of purchase, did the city make buyers aware of the risk of flooding they were exposed to before they purchased these homes? Did the city make the residents aware of the sub standard system they approved for this low lying area? There are several low lying areas in Hampton Roads with updated sewer lines that do not flood as bad as this area. Should residents investigate and purchase flood insurance on their own, OF COURSE. But to say that the city holds no responsibility whatsoever, I think is a stretch.
As a matter of fact;
the city DOES make available a city flood zone map. It is on the city web site too. It is color coded to show the areas of the city that are subject to flooding by severity. An informed home buyer can get a map at city hall. The city need not inform the purchasers of homes that Spartan Village has a "sub standard system approved for this low lying area" - because it is not a sub standard system.
In a related article... These residents need to Wake Up!
Because of the flooding in low-lying areas, some homes in the region are likely to suffer flood damage, which isn't covered by regular homeowners policies. Homeowners without a separate flood-insurance policy may come up short when filing a claim for storm damage.
Flood policies are sold by regular insurance agents but administered by the National Flood Insurance Program, a unit of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Policyholders who do have a flood policy and are filing a claim should check with their regular agent, said Elizabeth Stelzer, a spokeswoman for Nationwide Insurance.
Time for another Vice-mayor Anthony Burfoot grandstand.
As soon as the weather clears and the TV cameras can get away from storm coverage.
Who Approved the Development
While I agree that residents should evacuate themselves, however, it would be crazy not to hold the city responsible, after all their planning commission and city council approved a developer’s plan in an area that needed to have upgraded sewer lines. Is it more important to pay for light rail or to upgrade your current city's infrastructure to handle the drainage in stormy weather? If this was Ghent or Larchmont flooding like this, I guarantee you the city would be looking at ways to upgrade the drainage. To say the city is not responsible is pure NUTS, everyone pays taxes, and storm water fees for decent drainage, when you must leave your home because that system fails, you have every right to complain. What do you think you tax dollars are for? This is one area local government is supposed to take care of, the core infrastructure of its city. I do not live in this city, but I write this for my elderly friend who does and is a taxpaying citizen in this affected area.
The system did not fail
I appreciate your comments, however, you are a bit mis-informed. Larchmont and Ghent flood frequently. Again, the Hampton Roads topography does not lend itself very well to design an efficient & effective storm sewer. The system did not fail in Spartan Village. It is impossible to design a system to carry away large amounts of water in a short time frame. Without exception, all storm sewers have to have an outfall. In this area, the outfalls usually go directly in a body of water or a dith that carries it to a body of water. Engineers have to design enough slope in the pipe to cause water to run. The steeper the slope the faster the water will drain. Unfortunately, local storm sewer slopes must be slight; otherwise the pipe would be under the body of water by the time it reaches the outfall. Again, the system in Spartan village did not fail; it just could not handle that much water.
Sorry but
While I feel for anyone who's property is damaged. I can't help but wonder why the city services have to be tied uo to move these folks. This summers flooding certainly should have shown that with this weeks forecast theyse people should have been planning ahead to take care of themselves. It saddens me to think there are people wo can't think for themselves and wait for government to tell them what to do or rescue them.
Tough Time
I am sorry for their trouble and loses. I am sure it is devastating. Last summer's flood should have been a "wake up" call for residents to purchase flood insurance. Hopefully they are insured. From what I have seen on the TV news, residents seem to feel this is a city problem. When most of the land is as flat as it is in our area, storm sewers cannot be designed to handle 8-12 inches of wind driven water & rainfall. The City of Norfolk bears no responsibility.
Tough Time
I am sorry for their trouble and loses. I am sure it is devastating. Last summer's flood should have been a "wake up" call for residents to purchase flood insurance. Hopefully they are insured. From what I have seen on the TV news, residents seem to feel this is a city problem. When most of the land is as flat as it is in our area, storm sewers cannot be designed to handle 8-12 inches of wind driven water & rainfall. The City of Norfolk bears no responsibility.