"You ain't got time to think," Miller said. "You're just running, trying to grab."
The Waverly Road resident was out of town when the 1,000-year storm hit Jeffersonville a little more than two weeks later. He said if his daughter, Karen Wigginton, and her husband hadn't come to his empty home, he would have lost his cars and countless other possessions.
While Waverly Road and other problem areas were hit particularly hard during this summer's storms, the sheer volume of rainfall affected many other Jeffersonville residents, too. And the ones who had damage to their homes and properties are still recovering months later, Jeffersonville City Council President Lisa Gill said.
"We need to step up to the plate to make sure we do what we can to prevent that from happening," Gill, also the council's drainage liaison, said.
Lately, more Jeffersonville homes have been suffering internal flooding than before, which Gill called a "whole new scenario."
" ... To me, that takes on priority," she said.
BUILT FOR THIS?
Jeffersonville City Engineer Andy Crouch said for record-breaking storms, in the immediate, not much can be done for damage control.
"We know where our biggest trouble areas are, and we go and clean those out and make sure [drains] are cleaned, not clogged," he said.
Crouch also acknowledged that heavier storms are happening more often.
"I don’t think anybody’s denying the climate’s changing and the weather patterns are changing and we’re getting harder and harder storms more often," he said.
Gill also attributed more drainage issues to city growth because replacing greenspace with impervious surfaces such as asphalt creates more runoff.
Many who were hit during this summer's floods don't live in within the 100-year flood plain.
Crouch said those who live within the flood plain who have a federally backed mortgage are required to purchase flood insurance. However, flood insurance is available to anyone with a mortgage, regardless of their location.
Jeffersonville's drainage infrastructure is designed to handle a 10-year storm but also to accommodate a 100-year storm at maximum capacity, Crouch said.
These labels are kind of misnomers, however. There's a 10 percent chance every year that Jeffersonville will experience a 10-year storm, a 1 percent chance for a 100-year and a 0.1 percent chance for a 1,000-year.
During a 100-year rainstorm, Jeffersonville drainage crews "check the hundred," which means they make sure the rain isn't overflowing into the streets or in people's homes. Of course, this also depends on whether drains are blocked or clogged.
"If the hundred year storms stays in that [storage] box and doesn't flood anybody, perfect," he said. "If it does, we're going to upsize that pipe."
Crouch said the city has to do that "every now and then."
During the July 12 1,000-year storm, rainfall in Jeffersonville was between 5.5 and 6.5 inches in about two hours — literally off the charts, Crouch said.
"So there's not a lot we can do," he said.
Crouch said he doesn't know of any area municipalities with different pipe capacity designs, and that it wouldn't be practical to replace Jeffersonville's 10-year design with a 100-year design.
"We've got to be frugal with our money as best we can," he said.
ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS
Permanent alleviation of Jeffersonville's poor drainage areas could take half a century under the city's current plan, Crouch said.
The Jeffersonville Drainage Department's masterplan created in 2012 has $40 million worth of projects. But the department has a $1.2 million annual budget with about $800,000 allocated to alleviation projects.
"It's like, well what do we do?" Gill said. "We've got to do something."
"We have a long list of projects that we’re working on," Crouch added. "We’re moving forward with them, but we just can’t do everything all at once."
Some of those projects include improving drainage at the Eighth Street and Hopkins Lane area and on Waverly Road.
However, some portions of the city may not be eligible for drainage improvements.
Almost all of the annexed area has drainage issues because Clark County did not have requirements for detention basins for new developments, he said.
"We’re struggling how to deal with those because it’s in developed areas, so you can’t just go in and put in a detention basin somewhere," Crouch said.
The combined sewer overflow interceptor — an underground pipe that will store and transport combined sewage and rainwater to a pump station and then to a treatment plant — will alleviate some downtown flooding.
Gill said that she and Crouch have been attending neighborhood meetings in the "troubled areas" and recording high water marks during rain events. She said it's an attempt to reprioritize the direction of the masterplan.
"Not officially, but that might be the direction we have to go to," she said.
The 2012 master plan was devised from a series of public forums.
Jeffersonville Drainage Board member Grant Morton said some areas that have received flooding this summer weren't even listed in the masterplan.
Wigginton and Serenity Court resident Patricia Newcom expressed frustration in their interactions with the drainage board.
" ... I think it's falling on deaf ears," said Newcom, who has approached the board three times.
She was one of 18 people who spoke at a July drainage board meeting following the 1,000-year storm.
"I had nightmares because I heard people's stories that were sad," she said. "I mean it really broke your heart."
Drainage fees haven't increased in at least 10 years, he said. Gill said $3.50 per single-family residential home "is just not adequate enough anymore" and that the fee may need to be raised.
"I hate to do that, but it might be something that we'd have to look at," she said.
Morton said he would like to keep fees down.
"Even if we got more money ... I can't take care of a problem [when] we've got 4 or 5 inches of rain in 30 minutes," he said.
Better care for existing drainage infrastructure, such as ditches and culverts, could help flooding in the city. Basins with overgrowth and debris can block the flow of rainwater.
"Maintenance is not a priority [to the department], and to me, it's key," Gill said.
Morton said he heard maintenance has been an issue.
"I think that we're doing a pretty decent job," he said, adding that he doesn't go out and check the city's drainage infrastructure.
Recently, some of the department's 10 employees have been working on projects unrelated to drainage maintenance.
Crouch said earlier that two or three employees worked on road construction near Wilson Elementary School and Morton said drainage employees helped strip the 10th Street medians of their plants in the last month.
Some maintenance responsibility has been shifted to a private company.
The drainage board contracted Grant Line Nursery and Garden Center earlier this summer for maintenance of five bioswales, which is landscaping that filters pollutants from runoff water. The approximately $20,000 contract expires at the end of the year.
WAVERLY ROAD
One of the masterplan's projects involves acquiring property on Waverly Road and building a larger drainage culvert. The drainage board has been in the acquisition phase of the project since January 2014, and Wigginton said her parents' property has flooded four times during that period.
Miller, who has been living in his home for 26 years, said flooding is no stranger to the residents of Waverly Road.
"It just gets aggravating," he said. "You just got to worry about it. If it looks like it’s going to rain, then you got to stay here, you’ve got to protect your stuff."
Miller and his wife, Janet, and Wigginton have been pleading with the Jeffersonville Drainage Board for years. They say it's not the size of the culvert that needs addressing — it's the lack of maintenance on the culvert that causes backups.
"When [drainage employees] first came out after we kicked and screamed out at the city council meeting and they came out here and they did clean the ditch … three or four months later, we had a heavy rain — no problem," she said. "But it’s when they don’t maintain it when they create the issue.
"Dealing with mother nature is not the issue."
Wigginton said an estimate to clean underneath her parents' home, replace insulation and clean garages came back at $70,000. Her parents burn incense in the living room because their house smells like mildew, she said.
"I worry now because they are getting older," she said. "Their health is not as good as it was."
Miller said he's tired of waiting for the problem to subside.
"I just wish they'd do something soon," he said. "Don't wait until I die and then come out here and do something."
Wigginton said the city needs to place higher importance on maintaining its drainage infrastructure, specifically in reference to the culvert behind her parents' home.
"They're not just taking away possessions," she said. "They're taking away their peace of mind and they're taking away their quality of life. And it's not just my parents ... but all of these families that have lost stuff or continue to suffer because the city's not making this a priority.
"Enough's enough."
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