City Damage Assessment Underway

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 5, 2008

For more information, please contact:
Danny Lopez, Communications Director, City of Bloomington, 349-CITY, [email protected]



Bloomington, IN - Mayor Mark Kruzan and his staff are assessing damage caused to city government facilities by yesterday's storm and subsequent flash flooding.

"The one prevailing sentiment expressed to me by lifelong Bloomington residents as I visited impacted businesses was that nobody had ever seen anything like the deluge we experienced, yesterday," Kruzan said.

Kruzan toured flood sites and damaged businesses during and after the rainstorm and said the community spirit he saw was what he'll remember from the event. "People pulled together, used common sense, and gave a helping hand to each other," he said.

Local officials are seeking an emergency declaration from the state. Kruzan urged anyone with property damage to report it to the Monroe County Emergency Management Department at 812.349.2533.

Kruzan issued a statement thanking local officials and citizens, noting damage to city infrastructure, plans for the cleanup, and assessing lessons people can learn from the experience:

• ALL OF OUR AVAILABLE CREWS HAVE BEEN ON THE STREETS SINCE YESTERDAY AFTERNOON CLEARING THE DRAINS THAT WERE CLOGGED BY THE STORM.
• THE CITY IS WORKING WITH LOCAL BUSINESSES TO IDENTIFY AND REPAVE SIDEWALKS THAT MAY BE CRACKED IN FRONT OF THEIR PROPERTIES, REMOVE DEBRIS GENERATED BY THE STORM THAT MIGHT STILL BE ON THE GROUND AND HELP THEM FILL OUT DAMAGE ASSESMENT SURVEYS.
• CITY OFFICIALS ARE FACILITATING THE PROCESS BY WHICH STORE OWNERS CAN MAKE THEIR CLAIMS TO ASSIST COUNTY GOVERNMENT IN SEEKING A STATE DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY.
• CITY CREWS IDENTIFIED POTENTIAL HIGH-IMPACT AREAS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE STORM AND WORKED TO CLEAR DRAINS THAT BECAME CLOGGED. THAT ACTION TRIGGERED THE RELATIVELY QUICK RECESSION OF THE FLOOD WATERS AND ENSURED THAT ENSUING RAINS WOULD NOT CAUSE FURTHER FLOODING.
• THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS AND THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR ARE WORKING TO IDENTIFY DAMAGE TO PAVED STREETS AND URGING COMMUTERS TO USE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN NAVIGATING CITY STREETS.
• THE CITY OF BLOOMINGTON THANKS ITS POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS AS WELL AS PUBLIC SAFETY PROFESSIONALS FROM THE STATE, COUNTY, AND TOWNSHIPS WHO ALL ASSISTED CITY RESIDENTS.
• THE CITY APPRECIATES THE WORK CITY CREWS DID THROUGHOUT THE STORM AND THEN THROUGHOUT THE EVENING AND CONTINUES TO DO TO RECOVER FROM STORM DAMAGE.
  
  RESIDENTS ARE REMINDED THAT DURING HEAVY RAINSTORMS TO:

• ONLY CALL 911 FOR EMERGENCIES
• DO NOT ENTER STANDING WATER, WHICH CAN BE DECEPTIVELY DEEP. EVEN IF LANE STRIPING IS VISIBLE, A VEHICLE CAN BE SWEPT AWAY BY WATER.
• DELAYING TRAVEL ON CITY STREETS BY AS LITTLE AS 15 MINUTES DURING FLASH FLOODING WILL HELP EMERGENCY CREWS.WATERS RECEDE QUICKLY IN MOST AREAS.

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