The Virginian-Pilot
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PORTSMOUTH
Residents and business owners from one of the areas hit hardest by the recent nor'easter met Thursday to vent frustrations and discuss how to get the city to pay for solutions in their flood-prone neighborhood.
About 70 people gathered in Olde Towne and left with a plan to lobby officials at the City Council meeting Tuesday. Among the attendees were Councilmen Charles B. Whitehurst Sr. and Doug Smith, both Olde Towne residents who voiced support for projects to reduce flooding in the historic neighborhood.
Smith said he believes there are enough votes on the council to raise Crawford Parkway, a project that is estimated to cost $2 million. He told the crowd to gather their stories from the storm and build a compelling case to show other council members why their flooding problems need attention.
"It's not optional," Smith said. "This has got to be fixed."
City Manager Kenneth Chandler was also there. After the meeting, Dinwiddie Street resident Danny Donovan pulled out his cell phone to show Chandler photos of his home surrounded by 10-foot-deep water.
Donovan and his mother, Sindy, said they have renter's insurance but it didn't cover their losses in this storm.
"This is our third flood," Sindy Donovan said.
Chandler said the most recent estimate he has seen of citywide flood damage that Portsmouth has reported to the state is $464,000. That is an early estimate and far less than an estimate this week of $26 million in private losses in Norfolk.
People at the Olde Towne meeting were confident that much of the damage in their neighborhood hasn't been calculated yet. They hoped to have their own estimate ready for the City Council next week.
The neighborhood has long struggled with flooding. Besides the Crawford Parkway work, a pump station at the end of Dinwiddie Street is another project seen as crucial to alleviating problems, and the seawall bulkhead needs to be replaced.
All told, the projects in Olde Towne total about $8.5 million, Smith said.
Dave Forster, (757) 222-5563, dave.forster@pilotonline.com
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Where do our tax payer's dollar go anyway?
I know I pay more than $10K a year in property tax "because Portsmouth is a smaller region and the per capita rate for tazes is higher". My question to government officials is simply - with all the money we pay each year, why are our roads the worst in Hampton Roads and why can't the flooding/ drainage issues be fixed? I get tired of hearing "lottery money proceeds/taxes" go for schools but I don;t see any Portsmouth Schools that looks decent - the same applies to our roads. Someone's living high on the hog off hard-working people - and I'm sure they don't suffer when we have flooding ... Maybe officials she be more concerned about making life better rather than their pay raises and hiring illegals or using non "made in the USA" agencies - Yeah - I think I covered just about every iem that ticks me off - the question is: what is our government going to do about the things that just keep getting worse?????
every morning I go to work
I see the street sweepers on High Street and in Old Town. I live in Churchland and haven't seen one in years. I can't feel sorry for Old Town. Drive down Crawford Parkway and you can see that the whole area is a flood waiting to happen. You have 2 Council members that live in your area yet Churchland only has one. Get over it and move to higher ground or get the City to cut back on the 51 million it spends on Social Services to fix your problem.
100% Incorrect
"We tried to get flood insurance, but it isn't available to renters."
Flood insurance for contents is readily available to renters. All, day, all night, year round after a 30 day wait.
Fixes require something is broken
In order to fix something it has to be broken. The existence of gravity and the nature of a fluid to flow to the lowest points is not broken.
swat6 is wrong
I am a City of Portsmouth employee. I do know for a fact that the city was shut down but some employees were still at work for emergency storm duty!!!!!! We closed Thursday at 8:20 or so and most of the employees went home but some (few) but some departments kept people here to do emergency work. Mother Nature is going to do what she wants to do. The City WORKERS CAN NOT perform miracles. Everyone is so quick to complain but nobody knows how to give compliments!!!! Yes is was flooded and yes it was a mess. Get over it. You may have lost some belongings and other items but you still have your fingers to type about all your problems and you are still breathing!!!!!!!!!!
just clarifying
In Portsmouth, we are billed for our water, sewage, and refuse pick on on the same bill. So the extrodinarily high SPSA refuse fee has the net effect of making Portsmouth's "water" bill a burden on a lot of resident's of Portsmouth.
Just a side note. Coupled with the highest property tax rates in the area, these high city taxes and utility bills are driving middle class residents to purchase elsewhere.
Wet feet
As someone who works in Olde Towne, I would just like to be able to walk across the street to my car on rainy days without having to remove my shoes and socks!
Olde Towne Flooding Meeting
Sindy Donovan here, just to clear up a few of the comments.
When we moved to the apartment on Dinwiddie Street, we had no knowledge of the flooding problem. We carried over our renters insurance, and until the first flood had no idea that did did not cover floods. We tried to get flood insurance, but it isn't available to renters.
We haven't moved because we love Olde Towne, it's the largest accumalation of historically preserved homes outside of Charleston, S.C. My sons and I (we lost my husband to cancer 4 years ago) are determined to do anything we can do to preserve the houses here in the Olde Towne district.
The meeting was entirely about just that, preserving the historical section of the city - not about anything for ourselves. The only reason our losses were mentioned was just to give the City officials an idea of the losses that its taxpayers are losing due to the lack of a functioning pump station and an upgrade to the 80 year old drains.
The point being that there are a lot of areas in the city that flood,and all of them need attention. But not one, other than Olde Towne, has 10 feetof flooding to deal with.
Just in case there is still a misunderstanding concerning
"We tried to get flood
"We tried to get flood insurance, but it isn't available to renters."
Flood insurance for contents is 100% available to renters. Simply incorrect.
Old Town
While I realize that there has been some subsidance associated with the height of Crawford Parkway, my take is the same as residents living on the beach and losing their sand. Didn't you take time to check out what you were getting into? If you didn't, while of concern, a resident's lack of planning does not make a crisis for the rest of the citizenship. And the guy who didn't have enough renters insurance or anyone who did not carry enough insurance have no one to blame but themselves. They should not expect sympathy from the rest of us to the extent that we desire to take a hit on our wallet for their behalf.
I have been a resident of Portsmouth for over 10 years. Some of these very same people who are whinning now told me to my face that I should have known what I was getting into when I bought my house in Parkview. It's apparent that now that the shoe is on the other foot they think there should be a different allowance for themselves.