We woke up to rain on Saturday morning. It continued off and
on for most of the day with several “gully washers” (according to Rosemary)
during the evening hours. In other words, we experienced hard rain with some
wind thrown in for good measure.
According to language used by engineers Craig A. Smith and
Co. “much of the Village experiences flooding after even minor storm events.”
Now, was what we experienced
Saturday night considered a “minor storm event?” I really don’t know. It’s a
vague statement. Also a curious assumption coming from a firm that to date has
not started its survey and in my opinion lacks any factual data to support such
a claim.
Let’s remember that the definition of "Flooding"
given by Craig A. Smith themselves is "standing water on Village
property for over a period of 12 hours."
This we have all heard for ourselves during the workshop meetings.
So let’s now have a look at the results of our standing water
on Sunday morning. The time elapsed between these photos
was 4
hours.
Area 1 (115 St. / 6th Ave.)
(click on any photo to enlarge)
Area 2 (116 St. / 9th Ave.)
Area 3 (112 St. / 7th Ave.)
Area 4 (116 St. / 10th Ave.)
Area 5 (119 St. / 11th Ave.)
Area 6 (119 St. / 7th Ave.)
Area 7 (112 St. / 10th Ave.)
Area 8 (113 St. / 10th Ave.)
Areas 4, 5, 6 and 8 were not photographed again due to
the insignificant standing water from the first morning pictures.
Part of the “pitch” from Craig A. Smith is that we must make
sure that our roads are accessible for Emergency Vehicles. And this is both a good and valid point.
My question to our readers is this, based on these pictures;
(all so far captured to date) do any of
our roads look like they present an access problem for Emergency Vehicles to
you?
We now have standing water photos collected from 2 hours, 4 hours and two other examples at approx. 7 hours apart.
So, what have we
learned so far?
Based on photographic evidence, natural percolation and
evaporation effectively clears the water from our streets in less than 7 hours.
This is not speculation or an opinion, this is fact.
Standing Watch-
Milton Hunter- The
Biscayne Parker
I wish I had taken some pics Saturday evening but knowing it would be dark by the time I got home I did not. All I can do is offer a verbal description of what I saw. At approximately 6:30 Saturday evening there was what could be called "standing water" across the road on a couple of blocks of 119 between 11 Place and 6th Ave. . By the time I got home it was gone with the exception of a little that remained on the paved swales of individual properties. The amount of water displaced as we drove through was minimal so the depth could not have been great. This is the very area that has been described by one individual as virtually impassable at times. According to my rain gauge we got approx. 3 inches of rain on Saturday yet these roads were very much passable.
ReplyDeleteI neglected to state the time we returned Saturday - it was midnight - 51/2 hours after we left.
DeleteI just realized, not that it really matters, but I didn't re-set the clock on my camera. These pictures were shot @ 7:30am and again @ 11:30am.
ReplyDeleteNow Janey, thanks for providing the rain gauge data. I think that is something we need to keep an eye on. What about the question: "do any of our roads look like they present an access problem for Emergency Vehicles to you?"
Milt
Considering Fire/Rescue trucks are even higher up than my Honda Pilot absolutely not. Even police cruisers are full size sedans with good clearance. Again judging by the minimal water displacement as we drove through the answer would be no again. And in 38 years of living here with the exception of the "No Name Storm" when most of South Florida was in even worse shape - I have never heard our police complain of access problems.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I personally see no road access problems due to our water puddling.
DeleteCorrection to my rain gauge data - it was just over 4 inches,. And judging by the level of water in my overflowing pool that's accurate!
ReplyDeleteFrom our neighbor Sally:
ReplyDeleteHi Milton,
I have been getting e-mails from you, but not sure that I have responded. Matter of fact, I'm not sure what is going on, but I guess that someone is trying to get monies approved for drainage that we don't need?
Based on the photos that I just looked at, I don't see any problem with emergency vehicles getting through these few places that have water!
Regards,
Sally
Hi Sally,
DeleteWelcome! And yes, to my knowledge this is the first response I've received from you. The "storm water story" has been explained in several previous blog posts. We, the Village have entered into an agreement with an engineering firm to provide a master plan study for storm water flooding. Cost, $134,500.00. This money came from the State.
Who got this approved!? And moreso, why? Is there anything we can do about wasting our miney? I sure hope so!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter lives in a rental on 119th near the corner of 10th. I travel the road from 6th and 119th to 11 place almost every day. I have never seen any water hazard there in all my 12 years I've lived here.
To change the subject, sort of. As a matter of fact the only true hazard I have experienced on the roads is 11 Place from 123rd St to 117th St. If there's anything we can do about a road hazard it would be that! Cars speed down the road at a clip of approximately 45 miles an hour. There are no lights or stop signs. Why? Beats me! In my opinion it's a dangerous road and begging for an accident either from a pedestrian crossing or walking on the side walk-less streets or a car barreling down the street. I've seen dead animals at my corner, sad. I once spoke to a worker who said he was evaluating whether my corner would be a good spot for a traffic light. He thought, no it would not be a good spot. I believe if stop signs or traffic lights can't be put in this stretch of streets then what about evaluating whether bumps would serve the purpose. I see upscale areas with bumps all the time. Do we rate? I think so.
So my opinion is NO to flooding and YES to bumps in Biscayne Park.
Thanks!
Hello Elona,
DeleteWelcome! We're always interested in topics that are of interest or concern for our fellow Biscayne Parkers. Thanks for joining in the conversation.
Over the years there have be frequent complaints that drivers take the curve area of 11 Place going faster than seems appropriate for the conditions. This is right about the area Elona is referencing. There are actually 3 stop signs between 123 and 117 on 11th Place. One at 123, one at 121 and one at 119. There is another one at 115.
DeleteHeeere's Linda Dillon:
ReplyDeleteOn Saturday, I left Miami Beach at 5:10 PM. The parking lot at the museum where I was a volunteer was under water. Whenever it rains hard, the situation is the same. Driving across the causeway my car was swaying from the high winds. It was raining very hard and the traffic was terrible.
When I got back to BP I took N.E. 113th Street, passing my usual left turn onto N.E. 7th Ave. as I wanted to make a brief stop to visit a friend on 116th off N.E. 10th. Just south of the Rec Center ball field the road was underwater. I wasn’t sure how deep it actually was so I turned around and went around the park. I was at my friends maybe a half hour. I deliberately went back toward my house going West using 113th as I wanted to see whether there was any change in the standing water.
By the time I got to that previously flooded area, the water had receded significantly. I also drove around a few more blocks to see the “flooding” and found your pictures to match exactly what I saw.
L.
Hi Linda,
ReplyDeleteMy biggest surprise Sunday morning was in Area 8. [I think this is where you pointed out] Look back at the photos on 9/25/15 to see the difference. Big difference. There was simply no standing water there Sunday.
From "Doc" Morris:
ReplyDeleteDoc called me last night after an unsuccessful attempt to publish his comments. As such, he asked me to relay his thoughts. I'll paraphrase them as best as I can remember.
"Milt, I've lived here for 40 (something) years and I don’t see that we have a flooding problem. What problems we did have were fixed years ago when I was a Commissioner. We need to keep our existing drains clean and working properly. We don't have any access problems for vehicles. Please pass this along for me."