FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. (WFXR) – Back in 2018, Tropical Storm Michael brought heavy rain and flooding to Boones Mill, costing the town thousands of dollars in repairs.
It’s part of a floodplain, which is a low-lying area next to a body of water, which makes flooding events more likely.
However, after three years of planning and preparation, the town is now ready to begin its first flood mitigation project starting in mid-February.
“We are grateful to FEMA and VDEM for their help on this,” B.T. Fitzpatrick, the Boones Mill town manager, said. “We have a wonderful representative at the Virginia Department of Emergency Management who helped us through the grant process, and hopefully, we’ll have some of their representatives come down during the project and see what’s going on.”
The study will evaluate almost a mile-and-a-half of the Maggodee Creek stream banks, and look at the infrastructure and drainage system conditions along it.
The town believes this will help them prepare for future flooding events.
“We hope that this study will give us a good guide and direction to move forward with,” Fitzpatrick said. “It will allow us to get access to federal grants and funds that could come in and help us build some things that will help control flooding.”
That could allow Boones Mill to help parts of the town that are more likely to flood. Carter Park is one of those areas, and this project could help with potential future ideas along that space.
The project is expected to start at the end of the year.