THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2000
Storm drenches parts of county
By Erik Burriss
Staff Writer
Flooded streets and basements were the most visible results of Wednesday morning's hour-long deluge.
Tiffin rain gauges recorded anywhere from 2 inches at the sewer plant to 4.3 inches at The Advertiser-Tribune.
"It appears like the west end of Tiffin got the worst rain," Mayor Bernie Hohman said.
The mayor said his office received more than 30 calls about water in basements. Most came from North Sandusky Street and the area behind The Tiffin Mall.
"A lot of people are upset," he said. "I don't envy those people."
Northwood Drive resident Charles Dundore said more than a foot of water covered the road following the downpour.
Dundore said a retention pond behind the mall could not handle the amount of rain that fell.
The overflow, he said, "ran down the street like a river."
Storm sewers along the street flooded, he said, and the water backed up into several homes.
Dundore said about three inches of water got into his basement, while his neighbor, John Groce, said his basement was under a foot of water after one of his two sump pumps failed.
"We're trying to move things around," said Dundore, who estimated about $3,000 of damage was done to his carpeting.
While Dundore said the problem was just too much water in too short a time, Donna Bradley blamed the city's antiquated sewer system for basement flooding.
Bradley, who manages her family's rental properties, said water got into three of her basements on Ann and Circular streets.
"I'm hopping mad at the city," she said.
Residents of the houses were unable to lift the standpipes over the basements' drains because sewage began coming in.
"We couldn't let it out because the sewers were backed up," she said.
Bradley said this was the fourth time in three months the sewers have backed up.
She said a 1974 study of the sewer system showed what needed to be fixed, "but here we are 25 years later and nothing's been done."
Now, the engineering firm Jones and Henry is evaluating the city's sewers.
"I hope they move on it," Bradley said.
Hohman said in addition to the study, he will ask the Department of Public Works and city engineer's office to try to find other problems, such as locations that need catchbasins.
However, he said, it would be impossible to build a perfect system.
"I know that's no consolation to those who get water in their basement," the mayor said, but "it's impossible to build a system that can handle all the storm water. By the time you do, a bigger storm will come along."