Virginia Beach’s Storm Water System is a Ticking Time Bomb

Last October, Hurricane Matthew left parts of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Chesapeake underwater for several days and thousands without power for up to a week-and-a-half (at least in the part of Virginia Beach where I reside, that was the case).

Widespread flooding and power outages are to be expected when a hurricane hits an area, especially one as unexpected as Matthew. However, one can’t help but be concerned when faced with the reality that Matthew was a fairly minor storm by comparison to others when it hit Hampton Roads. Beyond that, it doesn’t take a hurricane to seriously flood parts of this city. Indeed, common thunderstorms throughout the summer will close roads and damage homes and vehicles on a regular basis every year.

On the local level, Councilwoman Jessica Abbott (Kempsville) has emphasized making stormwater issues a priority since she was running for council last year, and has supported measures to do so since taking office. However, she has not had nearly enough help from other council members, and progress has been slower than some would like it to be. Meanwhile, Virginia Beach faces about $450 million worth of flooding projects in order to get the stormwater system to where it needs to be to address the issue in a serious manner.

Meanwhile, Delegate Jason Miyares (R-82nd) has sought to address the issue with HB2320, though that bill, known as the Hurricane and Flooding Risk Reduction Act of 2017 (full text here), was unfortunately tabled due to funding concerns in Richmond. Miyares, citing Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans and “11 years of trial and error in Louisiana” as a warning, has stated the importance of being “proactive instead of reactive” regarding the issue of hurricane and flooding preparedness in Hampton Roads.

The bill in question called for the creation of an authority or committee in order to craft a plan for the implementation of sorely needed flood barriers and other such measures to address the issue. What’s more, the bill also touched on flooding issues in other parts of the Commonwealth, not just Hampton Roads, and hopefully another version of it will be passed next session with a Republican governor waiting to sign it.

Naturally, these are issues that any resort town will have to deal with. Unfortunately, the priorities of Mayor Sessoms and others are out of order, in particular when it comes to the arena project in the works here in Virginia Beach. With Norfolk’s Mayor now talking about upgrading the aging Scope, Virginia Beach’s proposed arena that Sessoms has desperately sought to have built seems like a rather moot point.

I’ll admit that I initially supported the idea of an arena being built, but if Norfolk can simply upgrade theirs and provide a potential home for a major league sports team and other large events right next door and save our city millions in the process, then let’s scrap that idea and do the “boring” though completely practical thing and fix this city’s flooding problems, and let’s make it a priority. This will ultimately be beneficial to tourists and residents alike.