Martinsville will continue efforts to better understand potential flood-related risks following Tuesday’s city council work session presentation on mitigation.
This is part of Martinsville’s participation in the Community Flood Preparedness Study, a multiyear effort for Martinsville, and the towns of Halifax and South Boston, to identify their respective needs to address potential risks. It also increases Martinsville’s chances of securing grant funding to pursue mitigation projects, according to John Turner, the city’s emergency management coordinator, who spoke about the plan on Tuesday.
“One of the requirements for federal funding of projects is some type of study to identify what’s going on and what your hazards are,” Turner said.
Turner’s comments come a month after the remnants of Hurricane Helene caused wind- and flood-related destruction in communities throughout Virginia. Martinsville and surrounding Henry County were largely spared from the worst of the storm.
This won’t always be the case.
“Can it happen here, what happened in the Carolinas?” Turner asked. “Absolutely.”
The study identified a number of areas adjacent to bodies of water as areas of concern. These include, among others, sections of Liberty Street and Memorial Drive adjacent to Jones Creek, and Spruce Street, which runs along Mulberry Creek.
Problem areas were identified via a number of criteria, including topographic wetness, distance to drainage, stream power and surrounding rock formations.
Points of interest also included critical facilities. Turner said that in a flood scenario, residents would have access to schools and the hospital, as they are not located in a flood-prone area. Access to other facilities might present a challenge.
Turner used the water treatment facility as an example.
“The water treatment facility is located in a high-hazard area,” he said. “So disruption to that facility would significantly impact everyone in the area, residents, businesses, visitors.”
The plant is on Clearview Drive. At a daily capacity of 7.5 million gallons, the plant is operated by a staff of supervisors, mechanics and laboratory technicians.
Turner said a storm disrupting access to the wastewater treatment facility has the potential to be a lengthy ordeal.
“Southwest Virginia and parts of western North Carolina, several of their water treatment facilities and wastewater treatment facilities are deemed beyond repair,” Turner said. “So how long would it take to rebuild a water treatment plant? We’re looking at years.”
Turner said identifying problem areas is the first step to mitigating possible disasters and properly responding to emergencies after the fact.
While the city is still in the early stages of creating a plan, Turner said next steps include three tasks: continuing to identify impacted parcels, developing an emergency warning system for highlighted areas and establishing emergency plans for critical facilities.
