Property Changes Could Prevent Floods

Louisville's Metro Sewer District Director Bud Schardein says residents can help prevent future flooding with their landscaping choices.Schardein suggests property owners in areas that flooded in this month's storm consult MSD about building rain gardens. The gardens are green spaces over absorbent ground layered with gravel, grass and plants that will hold draining water during rain events."The downspout now isn't connected to the sewer system, which isn't causing the sewer to overload, and the water now is naturally going down through the garden, through the sub-base and back into the ground water," he says.Schardein says another plan to prevent flooding could be for the city to apply for federal funds to purchase homes in high risk areas and create better drainage sites."We voluntarily ask people if they would like to relocate and turn that area into green space and turn it into storage during heavy rain events," says Schardein.Both plans, he says, would help prevent the type of sewer overload that caused the recent flash floods.