SAVANNAH — Rain from Tropical Storm Debby strained Savannah’s aging stormwater drainage system last month, filling flood-prone streets and damaging several homes.
City officials said it would have been much worse if not for ongoing upgrades designed to reduce flooding and help the system handle stronger storms.
But they emphasized that much work still needs to be done if Georgia’s biggest coastal city wants to avoid potentially catastrophic flooding after Debby dumped less rain than initially feared.
That could trigger renewed debate about how to pay for the infrastructure, which is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The city has again begun studying a stormwater fee that was torpedoed a few years ago amid opposition.
Alderman Nick Palumbo said Hull Park, one of the lowest-lying areas in midtown, was prone to flooding before one phase of a stormwater pipe replacement on 54th Street was finished last year.
Palumbo said pipes are being upgraded from 12 inches to 5 feet in diameter to more quickly move stormwater to the Casey Canal. Larger drains installed around the park’s perimeter can take in more water and are less likely to be clogged by debris.
“That was a street that did experience a lot of street-flooding conditions in a heavy downpour, and we didn’t see that this time around, so that’s a good step in the right direction,” Palumbo said.
Ron Feldner, chief of water resources, said that’s part of a trend. The first phase of Casey Canal basin improvements almost 20 years ago reduced flooding in other midtown neighborhoods.
“Those areas that have had improvements made, we didn’t really get any drainage calls during recent rainfall events including Debby,” Feldner said.
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Other neighborhoods are still waiting for relief as Savannah works on more than $100 million in drainage projects.
Officials said 37 homes in Tremont Park on the city’s westside were impacted by flooding from Debby, which brought about 10 inches of rain. Ten people were rescued from five homes that had structural flooding.
Alderwoman Bernetta Lanier remembers children swimming in floodwaters on Bay Street in the 1970s. She said projects dating back to the 1990s, including pump stations, have reduced flooding in her westside district.
However, she said aging pipes need to be replaced in predominantly Black neighborhoods where “the infrastructure was subpar from the beginning.” She has called for better maintenance of storm drains, which have been clogged by yard debris and added to street flooding this summer.
Stormwater management director Zack Hoffman said drainage infrastructure has to be expanded to increase capacity closer to the city’s canals before upgrades can be made in individual neighborhoods.
“Once we get the main run of the canals improved, then we can start branching out into the neighborhoods and upsizing some of those pipes,” Hoffman said.
Savannah has received a $30 million federal grant to upgrade the Springfield Canal and mitigate flooding in historic westside neighborhoods. The City Council recently directed $7.2 million to improve drainage in other west Savannah neighborhoods. Those plans include the replacement of culverts that allow water to run off and pass under roads.
“Every available pot of money we have, we want to be able to put it in the ground to continue to address drainage issues and pinch points along our drainage system,” Mayor Van Johnson said this summer.
Feldner said the infrastructure projects that have available funding are “going to keep us plenty busy” for the next decade. Much of the work has been funded by Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenue.
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Palumbo’s midtown district includes many of the city’s most flood-prone areas. A July downpour caused about 2 feet of flooding on parts of Habersham Street, he said. One of the city’s more ambitious plans will bore a 10-foot-wide tunnel about 150 feet underground from Habersham Village to the Casey Canal.
Palumbo said he is “bracing for impact” on what the estimated cost will be, but he knows it must be done to guard against structural flooding as storms get stronger and sea levels rise. He said the city needs a sustainable funding source for drainage upgrades.
Hoffman said the city designs stormwater infrastructure to handle a 100-year storm, or about 12 inches of rain in 24 hours, which has about a 1% chance of happening in any given year.
As Debby approached, forecasts said Savannah could receive up to 2 feet of rain, which Palumbo said would have caused “massive structural flooding through much of the community.” The total was less than half that over two days, but he said the city can’t count on being lucky forever.
“Our emergency scenario is going to be begging and pleading with our state and federal representatives after the big one hits to help us put the city back together. It’s that dire,” Palumbo said.
Johnson has floated the creation of a stormwater utility that would be funded by a user fee. The City Council has commissioned a study of the idea, which last came up in 2018. The city implemented and quickly repealed an unpopular fire fee that year, and talk of a stormwater fee ended.
Stormwater department funding currently comes from the city’s general fund. Some cities are moving to the utility model, officials said, which can help with budgeting and long-term planning. It isn’t clear how much a fee would raise or put toward future infrastructure projects, but city officials know they will need to find the money somehow.
“We’re talking about hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars to bring our stormwater management system where it needs to be for the future, not just now,” City Manager Jay Melder said at a news conference this summer.
Lanier said the next SPLOST referendum needs to include significant funding for stormwater infrastructure. In the meantime, the city will need “all hands on deck” for drainage maintenance and flood mitigation.
Palumbo said his district has been a “test kitchen” for smaller projects that can keep extra water out of the system, like rain gardens and adding pervious pavers to streets and parking lots. The city distributes rain barrels that he said can help by “fighting the battle 75 gallons at a time.”
City officials have noted even the best stormwater system can’t completely stop flooding in a low-lying coastal city. But in areas where upgrades have been completed, Feldner said, the water “stays in the street, fortunately, and eventually drains itself out.”
Lanier hopes that will be true for all of Savannah’s neighborhoods in the future.
“I just hate to see people experience so much anxiety when they know a storm is coming,” she said.
Savannah’s stormwater system:
• 412.97 miles of pipe (closed system)
• 152.48 miles of ditches/canals (open system)
• 7 pump stations
• 6 stormwater detention ponds
• 31 tide gates
• 14,000 catch basins
• 6,200 manholes
Planned stormwater projects:
Springfield Canal: Wetland park, canal widening, drainage improvements, bridge and culvert replacements
Casey Canal South: Phase 2 improvements on 54th, 56th and 57th streets; deep tunnel project
Bilbo Canal: Canal widening south of President Street
Placentia Canal: LaRoche Avenue culvert replacement, Vicksburg Drive pond, Betty Drive canal widening and neighborhood improvements
Fell Street Basin: Pump station outfall replacement and rebuild
Dundee Basin: Woodville neighborhood improvements; Louisville Road culvert replacement
Harmon and Chippawa Basins: Drainage basin study to support the city’s comprehensive stormwater master plan
Wilshire Basin: Drainage basin study to support the city’s comprehensive stormwater master plan
Stormwater Pump Station Controls Upgrades: Lathrope Pump Station, Springfield Pump Station, Fell Street Pump Station, and Kayton Pump Station
Other projects include minor inlet and pipe repairs/replacements and Cured-In-Place-Pipe lining of historic brick-lined and clay drainage pipes
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