Flood preps underway in Cranston

By Dana Griffin

dgriffin@abc6.com

@danagriffinABC6

CRANSTON, RI- Plowing, scraping, and hoping rain and clogged drains won’t flood Cranston streets, crews have been working since Wednesday clearing catch basins in the city.

Mayor Allen Fung said “We’re doing the best we can to make sure the neighborhoods are safe as possible; the streets are passable for our residents.”

With a mix of heavy snow and rain expected to come over the weekend, Mayor Fung says they’re focusing on storm drains in flood prone, low–lying areas.

“We’re hoping that by doing it in the lower–lying areas it creates that channel flow for the water to go and prevent a lot of it but, you know it’s Cranston and with as much of the snow that’s built up in the past storms, it’s very difficult to tell.”

Cranston DPW has a pretty good idea of where to look. The flood prone areas are usually at the bottom of hills and low–lying streets.

Six crews are working this week and the only obstacle so far is traffic.

Roughly 7,000 storm drains are located along the 500-miles of roadway in Cranston. Mayor Fung asks neighbors to get in on the drain clearing.

“Obviously, Cranston‘s too big for us to get to every single storm drain. That’s where we’re also asking some of our residents to pitch in if they can,” said Fung.

The city projects they’ll have most of the low lying drains cleared by Sunday when rain is expected.

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