Brownsville & Haywood Co. Work to Repair Flood Damage
Both the City of Brownsville and Haywood County have been approved for two separate $1 million grants from the state to help better prepare for potential floods. The historic May 2010 floods presented a huge problem for residents in the county and city. Now officials from both municipalities are in the process of working together to fix storm water drainage. For residents like Roger Jones, who has lived in Haywood County all his life, he is excited about the planned improvements. He still has terrible members of the destructive floods from two years ago. “The next morning I seen cars out in the field, half way turned over, and SUVs under water,” said Brownsville resident Roger Jones. “This entire neighborhood was under water. People were being evacuated to a nearby by street,” said Brownsville Mayor Jo Matherne. According to Mayor Matherne, part of the million dollar grants will be used strictly for research. The county and city plan to hire a company to check out the structure of drains and culverts in the area. Based on the findings, officials hope to use the rest of the money to target areas that need to be updated. Haywood County and Brownsville officials say they are glad both received the grant. They said only fixing a flooding problem in one area would present another problem for the other. While the updates can take up till next spring, property owners are happy something is being done to reduce the risk of future floods.
