SEAL BEACH : U.S. Aid to Be Sought for Better Flood Control

The county Environmental Management Agency will apply for federal aid to expand flood-control capacities near Leisure World and in the city’s Old Town area in an effort to prevent the kind of flooding that caused $5 million in damage to the city last month.

A team of county flood control experts recently toured the city and the 8,700-resident Leisure World retirement community to survey flood control drains and pumping stations.

Leisure World alone suffered $3 million in damage after a nearby flood-control channel overflowed during the Jan. 4 rainstorm, prompting evacuation of about 300 residents.

“That area backed up because it is not designed to handle that amount of rainfall,” said Bill Reiter, public works operations manager for the Environmental Management Agency. “They had the equivalent of a 100-year rainstorm in that area.”

In the city’s downtown area, called Old Town, waves of water from flooded streets rushed into homes and businesses during the January storm.

Mayor George Brown said county officials assured him the city’s drainage system can handle normal rainfall. “They didn’t feel there are any serious weaknesses,” he said.

The city and county will apply to the federal Emergency Management Agency for “hazard mitigation” funds. Near Leisure World, the county is considering an additional pumping station and more overflow basins. In Old Town, Reiter said, the solution may be expansion of the underground drainage system.

But Reiter warned that there is no guarantee that the county or the federal government will fund flood-control improvements. “I don’t know if we could get this done even by next year, but we are at a starting point,” he said.