Harrisburg dealing with flooding issues
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The city of Harrisburg has set up a command center in city hall for the duration of the bad weather. While it doesn't look like a repeat of the torrential two-day rainfall of 2008, city officials aren't taking any chances.
<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="file=http://www.dailyregister.com/archive/x128435061/Weather-Service-Catastrophic-flooding-possible/smallflv.flv&image=http://www.dailyregister.com/archive/x528728619/g140000000000000000b01bcae0399d93e9917019f3f03da2742e4d842d.jpg&plugins=gapro-1&gapro.accountid=UA-6820091-17" height="240" src="http://il-harrisburg.static.ghm.zope.net/resources/deep_dish/flash/flv_player.swf" width="320"></embed>
A consensus emerged among city department superintendents and city officials to stay ahead of the situation. Rick Mallady, city Emergency Management Agency coordinator, is planning to route all flood and weather-related work through the command center in City Hall so "everyone is on the same page" and things are simple as possible.
Missouri and Club streets were closed due to high water as of Monday afternoon. Gaskins City is experiencing some flooding and the Kroger-TSC parking lots have standing water at the eastern end.
Monday afternoon, Flood Control Superintendent Raymond Gunning reported drainage is going well despite the amount of water on the ground.
The northwest ditch is down to 9 1/2 feet.
"That's really good for all the rain we've had in the last three to four days," Gunning said.
Pankey Branch was at 11 1/2 feet Monday afternoon, even with the heavy rains early Monday, Gunning said.
There has been concern over the rising water around Brookstone Estates on Ron Morse Drive. However, the water level there has stabilized and there is no need to worry currently, according to Fire Chief Bill Summers.
Gunning has told several businesses in the north end of Harrisburg around the levee to practice "better safe than sorry." He told Murphy's Do-It Center owners they may want to move merchandise up high, or out of the building, as a precaution. Gunning gave the same message to The Appliance Store and other businesses that were hit hard by flooding in 2008, he said.
"I always want to be prepared for the worst on flooding," Gunning said.
The inter-connector between the two drainage basins in Harrisburg was activated for the first time about 9:30 a.m. Monday. The inter-connector diverts water from the Pankey Branch to the West Harrisburg drainage system in case Pankey Branch is overflowed and cannot handle all the water. West Harrisburg usually empties faster than Pankey Branch, so water can be diverted through the inter-connector if it is not raining too hard.
Gerald Mahan, the public properties superintendent, said the inter-connector is working very well -- even better than he expected.
"You can almost see it going down," Mahan said.
If steady rain becomes a downpour, the inter-connector may have to be closed to allow West Harrisburg to drain again, Gunning said.
City workers spent the afternoon Easter Sunday filling sandbags, which could be in short supply. There are about 4,000 on hand now - Mallady asked city department heads to do an inventory Monday afternoon to see if there are more. Tison and Hall is able to supply sand, but there is not a big reserve of bags available, Mallady said. The current plan is to conserve sandbags for an emergency. If the floodgates are closed - considered unlikely - the levee has to be sandbagged.
A wall of sandbags 3 feet high and 100 feet long requires 5,000 sandbags, so the pump station, telephone services, power transformers and other essential structures will have first priority.
Sandbags will not be given out on request.
"If we can locate some more there may be some, but not right now," Mallady said.
Many fields and rural roads are flooded. Allan Ninness, director of the Saline County Emergency Management Agency, urged people not to drive through flood waters. It is never clear how much of the roadway is covered during a flood, so what appears to be manageable could instead sweep away or drown out a vehicle.
Ninness also urged residents not to allow children to play in flood waters. It may look fun, but floodwater is dirty and often contains garbage, syringes, other sharp objects, or human waste. Children playing in the floodwater was a big concern raised by the National Weather Service during a conference call held Sunday.
"We're working on contingency plans, things like that," Ninness said.
"The amount of rain we get is going to be a determining factor."
Harrisburg's big pumps are working day and night to pump water from inside the levee. A power outage would knock the pumps out of commission. Ninness said he is working with Ameren to make sure a contingency plan for the pumps is a high priority.
In Carrier Mills, the fields around Tuller Road, U.S. Route 45 South and the reservoir were filled with water on Monday. Some front yards on Route 45 near the reservoir were water-logged. Tuller Road was closed just east of Millstone Market. The area east of Millstone, including Deborann Drive and Tuller Road, is prone to flooding.