Flooding problems to be discussed
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on October 24, 2005 2:02 PM
MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive Mayor Ruff Huggins said the committee formed to resolve flooding problems in town will meet next month with the Army Corps of Engineers to determine the town's next step.
The meeting is tentatively set for Nov. 4 at Town Hall.
Huggins said the committee's first meeting to discuss the issue went well, with State Sen. John Kerr and State Rep. Louis Pate attending, along with Department of Transportation and environmental officials.
Several residents of flood-prone areas of town came to the gathering, and the discussion centered around North Breazeale Avenue and parts of town that flood when water backs up from Thunder Swamp.
"Thunder Swamp is no longer a clearly defined stream," Huggins said. "It's filled up with limbs and trees and beaver dams. You have a flat area instead of a defined gully, and it caused backup of water."
The state officials took the engineer's report with them to study before the Nov. 4 meeting.
Meanwhile, the town plans to install a new drainage line to handle heavy rains until other measures can be taken. The 48-inch line will go along the south side Crest Drive. The town's engineer expects that adding the line will cut by more than half the amount of water that is now flowing into people's yards.
Town officials hope to get permission from the state environmentalists to install a berm from U.S. 117 to Crest Drive to raise the water level on the other side and put most of the water in the nearby swamp.
The berm would raise the stream bank about 3 feet.