SURF CITY, N.C. (WECT) – As Tropical Storm Debby approaches, residents in Southeastern North Carolina prepare for flooding to impact roads across the area.
Neighbors in Surf City are no different, however, long-standing water on the roads may soon be a thing of the past.
Town leaders announced Surf City will receive nearly $900,000 in grant funding to improve roadway flooding.
“Our ability to recover and get that water off the road as soon as possible is certainly our goal,” Town Manager Kyle Breuer said.
The town received $331,535 from the Department of Environmental Quality for the implementation of a portion of their Resilient Coastal Communities Project to support the town’s Phase 4 project aimed at addressing roadway flooding.
In addition, the town also received $565,200 from the NC Department of Public Safety, Emergency Management – Disaster Relief and Mitigation Fund.
Town officials are using nature-based solutions to keep water moving.
“The initiative involves the installation of permeable pavers and roadside bioswales, which will enhance the natural infiltration of stormwater and mitigate flooding on streets within Surf City,” a spokesperson with the town said.
The idea is the water would seep from the street into the ground instead of ponding on the road.
“It’s very difficult for us to design and implement a system that can cover a tropical event like we most likely will see later this week. However, the time frame in which it stops raining to when that water is off the road is certainly shortened,” Breuer said.
The hope is the town will soon bounce back quicker than ever after a storm hits.
“It’s extremely exciting to bring resiliency into our community,” he said. “It’s something that we always are going to be faced with, especially when we can implement projects that are identified in our plans as priorities, those are certainly exciting for us.”
Breuer said the project is set to wrap up in 2025.
In the meantime, town officials continue to track Tropical Storm Debby and encourage neighbors to start preparing.
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