KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — Kalamazoo’s Southtown Neighborhood has flooded three times in the last nine years, even though it’s supposed to be a 100-year flood zone.
It may be a fluke, it may be climate change but many fear it’s the new normal and fixing it will not be easy or cheap.
Public Utilities director James Baker told City Commissioners Monday night that the Crosstown Parkway ponds are below the level of the Kalamazoo River when it floods and the water backs up into downtown.
But he says that wasn’t what happened this time. He says the sheer volume of rain water, over 6 inches in less than two days caused the Axtell and Portage Creeks to overflow their banks.
He says it will take more money than the city can afford alone, maybe over $100-million to fix the issues, and they will have to seek state and federal financial assistance.
He says they will literally have to lower the Kalamazoo River as it flows through the county from D Ave. back to the city and grade the creeks.
He says there are some less expensive projects they can do, but they won’t address the underlying hydrological problems.
Baker says he expects the current floodwater to finally drain by this evening.
