Flood Control Plan Passes Its First Test

A citywide flood control plan passed its first test this week, one year after record rainstorms caught residents by surprise and flooded Leisure World and downtown.

The torrential rains of January 1995 caused about $3 million in damage to Leisure World, where 300 residents were evacuated after a flood control catch basin overflowed. In downtown, some residents complained that calls for help went unanswered as the rain overwhelmed street drains and flooded homes.

A request for federal funds to upgrade the city’s overtaxed flood control system has yet to be answered, according to Councilman George Brown. But the city has established a flood-watch network of residents and city officials to monitor periods of heavy rain.

“We were all standing by just daring it to rain,” Brown said Wednesday. “We were much better prepared than we were a year ago.”

As the rain intensified Tuesday and Wednesday, Leisure World officials were prepared to dig a temporary drainage ditch to redirect water from the catch basin that overflowed last year. Leisure World has obtained permission to channel the water to a cooling pond used by the Department of Water and Power’s Haynes Generating Plant if flooding is imminent.

In downtown, residents monitored water levels and communicated with police and public works officials. A city crew was prepared to install an extra drainage pump as downtown water levels rose.

“We were ready for the worst,” City Manager Keith Till said. “We actually may have overreacted to this storm, but we’d rather err on the side of caution.”