Flooded with frustration
County's weather problems cost Manhattan businesses big bucks
5:33 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Manhattan — “Yeah, every time it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating to see. It’s frustrating to watch,” says Andy Carson, co-owner of Carson Home Sales.
Carson is tired of seeing flooded streets and driveways right outside of his office.
Water was about 15-inches high on some streets last week. We even saw one man float down the street in a kiddie pool.
“You get nervous as you see water continually get closer and closer to your business,” Carson says. “You know, you just hope that it doesn’t cause significant damage.
This is the ditch where water overflowed from the area and spilled three inches into the street as of last week. Although this is dried up, business owners say they are not drying up their frustrations. In fact, many of them say the city and the county commissions must make a collaborative effort to resolving this flooding issue.
“We feel that the county is not doing their part in maintaining the drainage ditch,” Carson says. “It’s silted in very badly and there’s very tall weeds growing through there, making it very difficult for the water to properly drain.
Carson understands that the drainage problem is also based on location, but he believes the area businesses, city and county can find a resolution to the problem. He’s frustrated with the situation above all, not necessarily the groups involved.
Other business owners say the drainage problems come from Manhattan Regional Airport, where expansion causes excess water to flow to the ditch.
“The airport shares the concern that the local businesses have,” says Peter VanKuren, director of Manhattan Regional Airport. “It is a problem and the city’s aware of it.”
VanKuren says flooding problems often happen just east of the airport, on Skyway Drive. Many businesses, including the airport, experienced a heap of the weather, including significant hail damage to vehicles on the properties.
City officials are conducting studies with the Army Corps of Engineers on how to properly address the flooding issue. They plan to address the flooding problem at the next county commission meeting.
But could flooding issues like these cause problems with Manhattan being considered for the national bio-security site known as NBAF?
“Not at all,” VanKuren says. “I think when you take a look at the capability of our airport, here it is. It provides exactly the type of service that the folks who are selecting the NBAF site are looking for.”
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