By Joel van der Veen
DAVIDSON — A cloudburst on Monday afternoon left several streets in Davidson briefly flooded with water, thanks to clogged storm drains.
Once the heavy rain started falling around 2:30 p.m., some residents observed that the water began to pool on some streets as the drains could not keep up with the rush.
In several places, the rainwater quickly reached the curbs, spilling over onto adjacent sidewalks, driveways and lawns.
Ken Desiatnyk, who lives at the corner of Hamilton and First streets, said two-and-a-half inches fell in roughly 25 minutes.
He said he attempted to unclog the drains and also saw town employees doing the same, but the water did not begin to recede until the rain stopped. It took a couple of hours for the street to drain out, he added.
Desiatnyk, who has lived there with his wife for around 25 years, said they’ve never had water in their basement, “but it’s a concern because it’s been close.”
He said the water encroached on several nearby lawns, including that of Ida Stewart on the next block, leaving her yard “like an island” surrounded by water.
Norma McNabb, who lives across the street from the Desiatnyks, said she was out at the time of the rain, but three or four inches of water accumulated in her garage.
“It’s come close before, but it never got in,” she said. “It was raining pretty darn hard.”
When heavy rains fall, McNabb said, even a car passing by can send the water cascading towards her house. One time, she recalled, the water was so high that kids went wading in the street.
Desiatnyk said a similar rain event happened three years ago, causing extensive damage to the electrical system of their new car. The town agreed to cover the deductible on their insurance following that incident.
“There’s a lot of elderly in that area,” he said. “If we ever had a four-inch rain, I’d hate to see what would happen.”
Town administrator Gary Edom said Davidson’s public works staff headed out to clear off some of the drain covers after the rain started.
Often, he said, grass clippings or leaves from nearby lawns will end up in the drain along with other debris, either blocking it or slowing down the flow of water.
“We clean them off every once in a while,” he said, “but you never know when something like that’s coming . . . That was a lot of rain in a short time.”
According to residents on Herman Crescent, town employees were seen using rakes to clear the drains at the south end of the street, after which the collected water was soon cleared from the road.
“The guys get out to open them up as fast as they can,” said Edom.
Two storm drains were replaced near the corner of First Street and Garfield Street earlier this year.
Edom said the rest of the drains in town seem to be in working order and none are scheduled to be replaced this year.