COMMUNITY NEWS
Mitigating Flood Events in Davie By Mayor Judy Paul
I
n the past three years, we have seen storm events that historically only occur once every 50 years. The increasing severity and number of storms impacting South Florida lead us to believe that we will continue to see a rise in storm events. The past few weeks are supportive of these concerns as the Town has experienced two significant rainfall events. During the first event in late October, the Town received approximately 15 inches of rainfall over a week’s period. The Town’s drainage system handled this rainfall relatively well; however, there were areas of the Town that experienced roadway and private property flooding due to the lack of a conveyance system and storage capacity. Additionally, as a result of Tropical Storm Eta, the Town received on average 15 inches of rainfall in a 48-72 hour period. Prior to the arrival of Eta, the regional drainage districts including South Florida Water Management District, Central Broward Water Control District, and South Broward Drainage District actively lowered the secondary and primary canals. Following the storm, all pump stations were operating at maximum capacity and flood gates were open to drain out the floodwaters. Nonetheless, many neighborhoods dealt with flooded streets that were impass-
24 / January 2021 / OurCityMedia.com
able and properties were underwater for days including Oak Hill, Little Country, and Grove Estates, Park City East, Vista Filare, and the State Rd 7 Transit-Oriented Corridor to name a few areas. The Town rapidly responded and pumped out approximately 30 million gallons of water to make these areas accessible as quickly as possible to the residents and for public safety response. As a Town, we can either be relegated to responding to these rain events and living with the misery of the aftermath or we can take a more aggressive approach to mitigate them. If we continue to be only reactive the potential of property devaluation, flooded homes, and health impacts will only increase. Therefore, I have proposed a multi-pronged approach to address these conditions. In the past few years, we have discussed implementing a stormwater assessment to fund comprehensive maintenance and improvements of the Town’s drainage system which starts at the drainage basin and ends at the outfall in the canals. We would utilize the funding for drainage system maintenance and small-scale drainage projects. Dialoguing with the local drainage districts to discuss and implement short- and long-term strategies to mitigate flooding. Contacting South Florida Water Management District to discuss how the
Town’s basins can be lowered faster prior to and after storm events. Working with our State and Federal lobbyists to seek state and federal funding for stormwater improvement studies and capital funding. During the days of Eta, the town’s Public Works Department received over 400 calls from residents and businesses. 305 residents left voice messages and out of the 305 residents that left voice messages 231 residents were called back (74 residents did not leave a contact number). We closed multiple roads to create no-wake zones and to expedite pumping, removed five (5) trees at various locations that fell on the road, and in addition to the flood response, we concentrated a lot of our efforts post-flooding, in completing temporary pothole repairs throughout the Town. We will be completing an After Action Report for the response to Tropical Storm Eta. We will evaluate the major strengths demonstrated during the incident, areas that require improvement, and lessons learned. We will also meet with the Central Broward Water Control District to coordinate short and long-term improvements to the drainage system. Happy New Year and continue to stay safe and follow the CDC guidelines. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at 954-797-1930
