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Did a Duck Creek floodgate fail during Sunday's storms?

Did a floodgate fail during Sunday's storms?
Posted at 12:56 AM, Aug 30, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-31 00:41:37-04

CINCINNATI -- Sunday’s flash floods left citizens and emergency services alike racing to respond to the sudden deluge. Although police, fire departments and the American Red Cross all stepped in to help locals keep their heads above water, some Cincinnati residents are questioning whether one safety feature -- a floodgate over Duck Creek -- worked the way it should have.

Photos from Sunday night showed four cars stranded on the Madison Road bridge over the creek.

“All that I saw was water,” said resident Darin Bowman. “I’ve never seen that creek halfway full, less yet up above the wall and onto the street.”

The entire time, the floodgate on the creek never budged.

WATCH our interview with a woman whose car was caught in the surging water near this floodgate

 

 

 

City engineer Eric Saylor, who works in stormwater management, said the floodgate has a sensor that tracks the creek’s water level and responds if it rises above a certain point.

“There’s nothing for us that indicates to us that the creek came up and flooded the street,” Saylor said.

Instead, he said, it’s much more likely the street flooded solely from the rain.

Either way, Bowman and other neighbors were forced to deal with the aftermath Monday.

“You can’t have that question there every time it starts to rain,” he said. “I’m going to be in fear that it’s going to flood again. I’m not going to sleep at night."

City officials said they would move up a scheduled inspection of the gate to Tuesday to ensure it was functioning properly.