Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Engineers, other agencies to study flood issues in town
Flooding in Hartley as seen from Highway 18 looking south down Central Avenue in June of 2018.
Hartley officials are hoping it was worth the wait to be picked for a study that will analyze the city's flooding issues.
Superintendent of Public Works Jaron Benz on Monday informed the city council that Hartley was approved to be a part of the Silver Jackets Program. City officials applied several months ago, but thought they missed the cut after an extended period of silence from program coordinators.
"We thought it had fallen flat and we were exploring other options," Benz said. "This doesn't get us anything structurally, but hopefully it gets us to a point where we can get some FEMA funding for [flood] mitigation."
The Silver Jackets Program exists in all states and several territories, bringing together multiple state, federal, tribal and local agencies to learn from one another in reducing risk from floods and other natural disasters. According to the program's website, the teams enhance preparedness, mitigation, and response and recovery efforts by applying their shared knowledge.
Silver Jackets participants include state agencies with mission areas of hazard mitigation, emergency management, floodplain management, and natural resources management or conservation. Federal participation typically includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and often the National Weather Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as others. Resources for team activities come through the individual programs of each agency, within the constraints of available budgets.
"No single agency has all the answers, but leveraging multiple programs and perspectives can provide a cohesive solution," the website states.
No timeline has been set for the study, Benz said. City officials will continue communicating with Silver Jackets representatives and proceed accordingly.
Hartley officials have been discussing flooding issues for more than 10 years. When the area experiences heavy rainfall in a short amount of time, water inundates several portions of town. A particularly wet summer in 2018 led to extensive damage in Hartley homes due to flooding and sewer backups.
