Officials: Rain Too Much For Area’s Storm Drains
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WHEELING — The violent storm that swept through the Ohio Valley on Wednesday produced so much rain in such a short amount of time, storm drains and streams in Elm Grove and different areas of Ohio County couldn't handle the tremendous load of water. That, according to local officials, led to significant flooding issues in several areas.
Lou Vargo, director of the Wheeling-Ohio County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency said that sudden storm burst had water pouring out of the banks of Wheeling Creek near Cadillac Avenue in Elm Grove and other streams in Ohio County.
In addition to the Elm Grove area, flooding also occurred along Dixon’s Run, Gashel's Run, Peter's Run, and sections of Warwood, according to Vargo and Wheeling Public Works Director Russell "Rusty" Jebbia
"There was so much water ... it came up very very suddenly," Vargo said. "I just think when you have these downpours like that, the creeks come up so quickly. Just to talk about the force of it (the water), we had a frame from a truck that was picked up and moved down into the creek."
No injuries were reported as a result of Wednesday's storm, and most of the reported flooding was on roadways, according to Vargo. He said Triadelphia and Valley Grove volunteer fire departments had to respond to a car that got stuck in storm water on U.S. 40 between Triadelphia and Valley Grove.
"One of the biggest things is we had 7,000 people without power, and a lot of that was due to ... a big tree came down by the Shriners (in Elm Grove). That took out two main branches of AEP's circuits," Vargo said.
He added that a lot of people didn't get their power restored until about 1:30 a.m. Thursday. Vargo said the West Virginia Department of Highways responded quickly to the Triadelphia and Valley Grove areas to help clear debris from any backed up culverts or drains.
Jebbia echoed Vargo's assessment of the storms and how their speed and volume backed up sewers and sent streams overflowing. Jebbia said in addition to Wheeling Creek flooding near Cadillac Avenue, the storm sewers couldn't handle the tremendous load of water and it backed up onto National Road in that area.
Roads and homes in the Springdale neighborhood and Warwood, including Warwood Terrace and areas between North 18th and North 20th Streets, also dealt with flooding.
"(Water) came down Armont Road (in Springdale), came down a section of Park View Road, jumped out of it's banks and came out onto National Road and then washed down to Arby's (area) along National Road," Jebbia said. "So it was pretty bad there."
Jebbia added that a section of Burkham Court was also flooded from Peter's Run overflowing its banks.
"For some reason it just hit really bad out here in this one section of Elm Grove," Jebbia commented. "They worked late last night cutting trees. We had a lot of downed trees."
He said that, along with a tree falling on a parked car on Rockledge Road, a tree fell on Wheeling Island and a large tree fell across Kruger Street in Elm Grove. City crews were busy late Wednesday following the storm and into Thursday clearing mud and debris from streets.
"The storm drains are not designed for that amount of water," Jebbia said. "Typically they design a storm drain for a 25-year rain event — and these rains that we've been having here for the last couple of years are way over a 25-year rain event.
"The storm drains just can't handle the amount of water that's been coming down with some of these torrential downpours that we have," he added.
Jebbia said any time a culvert goes under a roadway or bridge, those are the first spots city crews respond to following heavy downpours. He said city crews are always checking and clearing culverts around different sections of the city.
"In just about every drop inlet that we have, crews are going through the neighborhood and they're checking them to see if there is any debris — twigs and leaves laying on top," Jebbia commented. "Our district crews know those neighborhoods. And we always appreciate any time a neighbor or someone can do that."