By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
There are areas in Hays where rainwater tends to collect in the streets during a downpour and cause flooding.
An unusually wet year in 2018 – the third wettest year on record for Hays – saw several street flooding events.
When that happens, Public Works Dept. employees go out and place bright orange traffic cones in places where water crosses the road.
By the time all the cones are set out, the water is usually already starting to recede, according to Jacob Wood, assistant city manager.
“Our drainage system actually works pretty well,” says Wood.
“So instead of sending our guys out to put cones in every location, we’ve put signs up in places where water typically crosses the road.”
Twelve yellow diamond caution signs read “WHEN FLOODED TURN AROUND DON’T DROWN.” Another 30 yellow rectangular signs read “IMPASSABLE DURING HIGH WATER.”
Public Works will no longer put out the traffic cones during minor street flooding but “we do want to notify the public there could be water in the area,” he said.
In cases of major street flooding, the cones will still be moved into place as a warning to drivers.
“For the most part we’re trying to get away from sending everybody out to put cones up in areas where the flooding is not really terrible and most of the time vehicles can cross. It’s not advisable to drive through that,” Wood stressed, “but it’s not necessarily a life-threatening situation.”
He used as an example the intersection of 13th and Allen Streets.
“There’s not really a whole lot we can do there to get that water going faster just because of the elevations after we rebuilt 13th.
“So any time we have a heavy rain, water piles up there. Now we’re not going to put cones there because we have traffic signs that say caution, when it’s raining heavy, water collects here.”
Typically, the flood-prone area doesn’t get water deep enough to cause problems, but Wood says if someone is driving a low-riding car, they may stall out.
“A lot of times when we put the cones up, people drive around them anyway,” he acknowledged with a grin.
There are 42 signs now installed in areas of Hays where traffic cones have historically been placed during a hard rain. The diamond shaped signs were provided to the city through the Federal Emergency Management Association and the Division of Water Resources.
A summer thunderstorm last July 6 resulted in a Flash Flood Warning for central Ellis County with more than four inches of rain falling in Hays in a short time. Notable flooding occurred in areas that rarely flood, including 17th Street.
“We put signs up there, but that water was deep enough that if it happens again, we’re going to go ahead and barricade those streets and other places like that if gets to the point of a really significant rainfall.”
That part of Hays had not flooded in many years.
“It just depends on the kind of rain that you get and how saturated the earth is at the time,” Wood added.
Mother Nature is not the only factor in a flooding event.
“When people build things or tear things down, it dramatically changes the way the water flows.
“We actually saw that around city hall (1507 Main). We tore a couple of houses down behind it and put in a parking lot and the water flowed totally different around city hall at the last flood event than it had in previous years.”
Some city streets act as part of the storm water system, which is designed to move water off the streets.
“In places where we don’t have underwater conveyance or ditches or that sort of thing, the water does flow in the street. Fortunately, it typically moves out pretty quickly.”
By eliminating the process of setting out and picking up the cones, city employees will now be able to take care of other flooding issues more quickly.
“When it’s raining heavily or flooding, our public works crews have more things to do than just set cones out. They’re trying to take care of
the whole city, and making sure everything is all right in Lincoln Draw. If it would get significant enough that we need to sandbag areas, they’re out doing that. They also monitor areas where it does get deep enough that it’s a life safety concern.”
Wood noted the Hays Police Department also monitors flood zones during heavy rains.
“If basements are filling up on 17th Street, that’s life-safety related. It’s really about saving lives and managing our resources the most effective way.”
Wood says the city typically hasn’t issued citations or tickets for driving around the traffic cones and onto a flooded street.
“It’s really more of a ‘go here at your own risk’ type of thing. If you do go through the water or around the cones and your car gets stalled out, that’s kind of on you.”