NORFOLK, Va. — First we will have spring showers, then it will be hurricane season.
The water is bound to rise at some points over the coming months. In Norfolk, city officials are hosting a series of flood strategy open houses, to show residents that even though you can't stop the rain, you can protect your homes from it.
At the latest meeting on Tuesday night, residents were able to learn about what the city is doing and what they can do to fix the water worries.
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“We definitely need to take a holistic approach," said Kyle Spencer, Chief Resiliency Officer for the City of Norfolk. "Everyone has to do their part."
On the infrastructure level, surge barriers will be installed and drainage systems will be looked at.
“A lot of the work is upsizing those old pipes, also we can do things like put back flow preventers in so that the rivers aren’t going through the pipe and onto the street,” Spencer said.
Officials also presented natural solutions. Restoring wetlands and planting trees to allow for better water storage and quality.
“We’re taking old creeks that used to run through the city and have been filled in, and we’re opening them back up,” said Justin Shafer, the Coastal Resilience Manager with the City of Norfolk. "And that allows for better flushing and movement of water or just storage of water during big storm events."
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One of those creeks will be what was formally Newton's Creek which ran along Tidewater Drive. They're restoring a nine acre wetland with another 15 or so acres of park going around it.
"We've taken that area, a big section of it we are opening back upt," Shafer said. "So that we will then gain that flood storage, then the wetland we are planting there will provide quality treatment, they will provide wildlife habitat."
However, they say residents also have a part to play. Installing rain gardens or rain barrels, and planting their own trees.
“Capture where the rainfall is coming down and slowing it down and releasing it slowly in the system, soaking it up where it falls as much as you can," said Spencer "If everyone was doing their part, I think it would be a measurable difference.”
Some residents in attendance, like Anne Christie, could not be happier about the transparency. She thinks everyone needs to be paying attention to the rising water levels.
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“Anybody who complains about flooding in Norfolk should be attending these meetings and learning,” she told News 3.
Christie said she attended the meeting because the current flood wall design would cut her neighborhood off completely from any services during a flood. Since bringing up the issue though, she thinks city officials have been incredibly helpful.
“They have been wonderful," Christie said. "We actually had someone from the resilience office come to our condominium and do a presentation just for our association."
There will be two more open houses, one on March 21 at the Jordan-Newby Anchor Branch Library, and another on March 25 at Lambert's Point Community Center. There's also a virtual open house if you aren't able to attend one of the meetings. Information on that can be found here.
