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MURRAY -- It's been a huge headache for a pair of Murray property owners every time there's a big rain. But some detective work from the city's public services department appears to have identified the problem.
Floods can be caused by all kinds of things, including blocked pipes. That's what turned out to be the issue in this case and the real trouble turned out to be a bit of a surprise. For Paul Hall, the frustration has been mounting with big rains bringing trouble - flooding at his home - from a mystery source.
"We really didn't know why it was happening. This was the third time in two months," Hall said.
Workers with Murray City public services were stumped, thinking the city's storm drain should be able to handle the water, until they uncovered something unexpected.
As it turns out, years ago, a property owner 500 yards downstream installed a vinyl fence. In the process, the contractor drilled post holes, right into Murray's 15-inch storm drain, blocking the flow from upstream.
"Just took us a while to get access to various pieces of property to find the blockage," said Doug Hill, Murray public service director. "We just had to keep searching the storm drains downstream from where the flooding was going. Last night our crews were able to locate the problem."
As it turns out, years ago, a property owner 500 yards downstream installed a vinyl fence. In the process, the contractor drilled post holes, right into Murray's 15-inch storm drain, blocking the flow from upstream.
As workers repaired the pipe today, Hall says he's relieved the mystery is solved.
"(It has been) very frustrating because you can't go away for a weekend , you can't leave when there's any chance of rain because you come back and there's gonna be 3 feet of water in our house again," said Hall
City crews climbed into the storm drain lines with flashlights and TV cameras and didn't find the blockage. It was a high pressure hose that lead them to the culprit.
As for who is at fault, that's still unclear. It appears it could be the property owner or the condo association or the vinyl fencing company. But at least the mystery of the frustrating floods seems to be solved.
