Lexington, KY - Over the past couple of weeks, I've met with a number of residents who suffered losses from the Derby weekend storms. Despite more than 10 inches of rain that fell, the most serious problems I saw were from raw sewage flowing into Lexington's streets and people's basements.
On Sunday night, May 2, of the rains, I drove over to see firsthand one particularly bad intersection in the Southland area. Sewage was literally pouring out of sewer manholes, and cast iron manhole covers had popped off and were lying in the streets.
One person later told me that children had been playing in the flooded intersection earlier that day. It is very difficult to see an open manhole under flood water, and stepping into an open sewer manhole could have terrible consequences. In addition, water contaminated with raw sewage carries all sorts of diseases and poses a serious public health risk.
While most people know about the need for aggressive repair and replacement of our public sewer system, Lexington's sanitary sewers also suffer from illegal connections of gutters and exterior stairwell drains. During heavy rains, the load on Lexington's sewers can increase to as much as five times the normal flow, which means that rainwater is getting into the sanitary sewer system. Our sanitary sewers are not designed to carry this much rainwater, and it ends up backing up into our streets and people's houses.
In general, the Lexington-Fayette Urban Count Government (LFUCG) will pump out raw sewage that has backed up into basements, but will only pump out rainwater that threatens a home's furnace or primary cooking or sleeping quarters during a weather emergency. Lexington's limited resources can become overwhelmed during heavy rain events, and during Derby weekend alone LFUCG received over 500 flood related calls. Response and cleanup will take time.
During the Derby weekend floods, some residents who had learned hard lessons from previous sewer backups were using submersible pumps and drain stops, and experienced only a small amount of water and sewage in their basements. Others less fortunate ended up with several feet of sewage, and incurred costly damage to their homes and possessions.
So what can folks with sewer problems do? Residents should remove valuables from their basements until sewer problems are resolved. Also, homeowners should either remove and seal off their basement toilets, sinks and drains, or have a licensed plumber install a grinder pump or other solution to repair their basement plumbing and drain systems. Homeowners should also direct as much rainwater away from of outside stairwell drains as possible, as these may be connected to interior basement floor drains. It is also important to include a sewer backup rider on your homeowners insurance policy to cover any loss and have any sewer backflow valve on your property inspected regularly. Finally, homeowners should consider purchasing submersible pumps for basement toilets and sinks, and plugs for their basement drains, for use as emergency measures during heavy rain events.
It will take many years to locate and disconnect all of the downspouts and drains directing rainwater into the sanitary sewer system. It may take just as long to expand and update our antiquated sewer lines. But with the sanitary and stormwater sewer fees enacted by the Urban County Council in recent years, we finally have the financial resources to address one of Lexington's most serious problems. In the meantime, citizens need to take reasonable precautions to protect their families, homes and valuables from future flooding and sewer backups.