Kenosha---Even before the first raindrops fell early Monday morning, plans were underway to improve the city's ability to handle heavy rains.
Crews started mapping problem areas earlier this year, according to Mayor John Antaramian. And by the end of the year, projects will be identified, prioritized and priced out.
Most of the areas that were the hardest-hit by Monday's 4.4 inches of rain already had been identified as having problems, said Antaramian, who spent nearly three hours touring the city with Utility General Manager Ed St. Peter.
The torrential rain flooded streets, basements and businesses, and stranded at least one motorist in her vehicle. The woman was rescued by firefighters, according to Fire Chief Chuck Leipzig, who said the water depth in one street hit nearly six feet. No injuries were reported.
Problem neighborhoods included Forest Park, areas of 75th St. and the Sunnyside neighborhood, including the area around Snap-On.
Pick n' Save on 75th St. was closed Monday morning while workers pushed out water. Employees at the Hungry Head Sandwich Shoppe mopped up several inches of water. Gerhard's Restaurant said it will need several days to clean up basement flooding and dry out wet 1st floor carpet.
Most of the flooding occurred because storm sewers couldn't handle the volume of rainwater.
A 30 million gallon holding tank near Sheridan Rd. and 80th St. filled up. The tank holds raw sewage until the treatment plant is able to process it.
Although the city has separate systems to handle sewage and curbside-collected rain water, in times of heavy rain, runoff seeps into the sewer lines. The dual goals are to keep flooding to a minimum and minimize the amount of raw sewage that's sent into Lake Michigan by the overworked treatment plant.
"In general the systems worked very well but where they failed they failed badly," Antaramian said Monday afternoon. "We need to make sure that we correct those areas," he said.
Improving the city's infrastructure was a campaign promise of his, noted Antaramian, who was elected a little over a year ago.
The relatively recent creation of a storm water utility district will enable the city to borrow money for such projects without taking away from other areas of the budget, such as road resurfacing and reconstruction.
Unofficially, Monday's rains--which fell over a four-hour period-- may have been the worst in some 17 years, according to St. Peter.
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