Oh yeah! Let’s cut that infrastructure budget some more.
Cambria Depot Parking Lot
The water was already moving onto Cambria Street when Meghan Dorsett went out to try to clean the drain. The volume of water flowing along the track side of the Depot was strong enough to pick up a big bag of railroad spikes stored by Norfolk Southern and carry them down the flow path. Fortunately, they were caught (by Meghan) and pulled out. It is hard to believe that the water flow was strong enough to move something that heavy, but I have it on video to prove it. This is the result of the storm drains that the town has dumping out onto the flat area by the Depot. It has been a problem some time but has gotten increasingly worse. Water also crosses the road and pours into the flat where it splits and goes around the Depot, making the Depot a virtual island.
I wonder if the Town will continue to ignore this problem until the Depot is damaged to the point it cannot be repaired. Maybe that is what they want. The failure of the Town to correct the issues sure makes you wonder. Or, maybe it is time to simply move the Depot … entirely out of Christiansburg before it is destroyed by the Mayor, Town Council, and Town Manager. It would be shame to see a building that has such historical significance for the area be destroyed or relocated.
Is the Depot in a floodplain area. Yes it is. Was there flooding before the Town allowed a lot of new development and impervious surface WITHOUT requiring the very storm water management techniques that would have mitigated the problem, uh…..NO! This flooding is a direct result of the failure of the Town to effectively manage storm water, a fact confirmed in the FEMA reports from last years flooding. The techniques required by code would be great if we were in the Eastern part of the state. The minimum State standards were set to take care of issues in the majority of areas which are relatively flat. It is up to each jurisdiction to improve on those codes based upon their own ‘landscape’. Montgomery County and Blacksburg have more stringent codes for stormwater issues in their jurisdiction. Christiansburg continues to apply the bare minimum required by the state.
Please note that once again, the creek did not overflow. This is simply water cascading downhill and being dumped into the Town’s personal reservoir that happens to be Norfolk Southern property. Why is the Town dumping storm water on a floodplain? Why hasn’t the Town taken steps to correct this situation? The property owners of these structures pay taxes. Shouldn’t the Town be taking steps that ‘do no harm’ rather than steps that are designed to create this flooding? Why are they still doing things that make the problems worse rather than trying to help fix the problems that they created?
It’s not just the Depot. This is happening all over town. Maybe some of the elected officials need to get in their vehicles during the next heavy rain and drive around looking. Maybe some of them could help try to keep some of the drains cleaned. I’ll be posting a bunch of photos in the future and sending all of the photos that I have collected from various areas of town to various agencies, state elected officials, and federal elected officials requesting help in dealing with Christiansburg’s storm water problems because until there are some serious changes in attitudes of elected officials, this problem will simply continue getting worse and worse. This is beginning to smell a lot like malfeasance.
The drainage starts near the water tower in Cambria.
I have photos from some of the storms from last year that trails the paths that led to flooding of several residences near the Depot.
There’s some 20-plus year problems with drainage and overbuilding all over town. One example is the Huff Acres community that has continual problems due to the townhouses that were built on higher land across the street many years after the construction of the nice area of Huff Acres. Since the over-buidling of the townhouses…well, just ask the residents. Horrific ‘raw’ stories.
If you care to share any photos, I am trying to put together a view over time that shows things are getting worse rather than better. I’ve been getting in photos to scan from people in various parts of town where this issue is ongoing.