Crews have been working all week in Tazewell County to help those dealing with flooding
“It flooded all the way up the doors, my boss’s car was covered in water,” said Sunoco employee Shawn Clutter.
On her drive home Saturday night, Pekin resident Shawna Clutter was in disbelief when she passed by her employer. Derby Street had been taken over by flash floods making it close to impossible for customers to use the Sunoco gas station.
“It was insane I was really shocked,” explained Clutter. She adds, “We’ve had the Fire Marshall out here to checked the pumps for customers safety.”
Last may, Mayor John McCabe appointed members of the city to a storm water sub committee to tackle more than 20 minor and major issues in the city. Limited by budget constraints, improvement projects have been limited but McCabe says a retention pond added to the city’s south end has made a significant impact.
With infrastructure dating back to the 1800’s throughout the community, the city continues to engineer new ways to move storm water.
“Redirect some of that water or to provide some additional storage capacity through retention or detention ponds,” said City Engineer Michael Guerra. He adds, “The sub water committee is looking at doing a five year plan to look at some of the studies and address a lot of the locations.”
To help to keep the drains clear the city is reminding people that yard waste pickup services are available until December 21.
