Residents Hit By Flooding Call for Answers

About three dozen Strongsville residents asked city officials Monday for help with flooding issues, seeking concrete plans on how to fix the problem.

It was the second trip to a City Council meeting this summer for some of the homeowners, who also pleaded for help after a June 25 storm flooded their houses.

"I want to know what the solution is," said Robert Flint of Fair Road, to applause from the crowd.

Mark Jones of Montclare Boulevard, whose home, like others, flooded this June and also in 2011, said residents keep asking the city for answers, but still don't know if any help is on the way.

"All I know is, every time it rains, I can't sleep," he said.

Mayor Tom Perciak took exception to the implication at the city is ignoring the issue.

"Nobody up here sits back and does nothing about this," he said.

The mayor said the city has a crew of at least six people assigned full-time to sewer work "in as many neighborhoods as we can."

The city is re-lining sewers to keep storm water from infiltrating and overloading them, but is hampered by the cost of major overhauls, he said.

"At the end of the day, the issue is not going to be corrected with a natural waterway (Blodgett Creek) running through your back yard," Perciak said. "We cannot control how much water falls in an hour."

Ward 4 Councilman Scott Maloney said the city has spent millions of dollars on sewer issues over the last three years, and has helped some neighborhoods — including three streets off Shurmer Road than have flooded for two decades — stay dry.

"We have had some success," Maloney said.

Residents in the city's northwest corner went to City Council in early July, after a thunderstorm late June 25 sent water cascading through the Meadowood area, flooding roads and trapping cars on Albion, Creekside and Pebble Brook Lane. 

The water overflowed the storm sewers and gushed into homes. For many, it was a nightmarish flashback to July 2011, when a torrential rainstorm that dumped more than 5 inches of water on the area caused similar home flooding.

On Monday, they returned to council to see if anything is being done to help.

Bill Cronin of Rock Creek Circle told city officials  Monday that he bought flood insurance after a storm sent water gushing into his house in 2011, and while it covered the $26,000 to replace flooring, drywall, baseboards and other structural damage his home suffered this June 25, it did not pay for $8,000 in lost contents.

Another family on Rock Creek also bought insurance, but two did not and suffered devastating losses this June, he said.

Another Rock Creek resident said he has no basement, and storms flood his living area, causing stress and worry whenever it rains.

"I can't buy insurance on (my wife) having a nervous breakdown," he said.