Life After The Flood

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Life After The Flood

This was the scene in Aberdeen one year ago.

By Dawn Crawley

Story Created: May 5, 2008 at 4:51 PM CDT

Story Updated: May 5, 2008 at 11:03 PM CDT

An estimated eight inches of rain fell and when the water had no place to go it poured from streets into basements, causing foundations to shift and basement walls to collapse into some homes.

The flooding that swept through Aberdeen caused extensive damage to homes and property.

Mayor Mike Levsen says it was one of the most trying times for the city.

"We found out who we can count on. We also found out there are some people you can't count on and it's going to occur in every situation and now we know that too but the best thing was individuals helping individuals and neighbor help neighbor," said Aberdeen Mayor Mike Levsen.

The cleanup process was long for residents.

Resident Lester Prescler says, "My brother came over and helped me for half a day and moved all this stuff. I had a bunch of paperwork down in the basement. It all got soaked. I had to get it out of there and that was a problem."

Aberdeen already has several holding ponds and now the city is considering building another one. The Mayor says the current holding ponds helped prevent last year's flooding from being worse.

"Had they not been here the flood would have been much more devastating. So we are looking at another holding pond and we have purchased a lot more pumps and generators. So we are doing that. We think the system functioned pretty well. It just got overwhelmed," said Mayor Levsen.

The Aberdeen City Council is considering building another holding pond near Fairgrounds Road that would cost an estimated $2 million.

 

 

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