East Dundee tries to ease future flooding

There may not be a way to solve the problems some residents in East Dundee encountered after the Aug. 23 storms, but village officials said Monday there are ways to lessen the problems in the future.

During a committee-of-the-whole meeting, East Dundee Public Works Director T.J. Moore outlined numerous initiatives the department is undertaking to better manage flood recovery and response.

"We cannot solve all of the problems, but there are things we can improve on to mitigate some of those problems," Moore said. "In a duplicate scenario, we can make things better."

The August storm, Moore said, dumped about 19 inches of rain in a short period of time and the Fox River was also at a near-record high.

Residents of the Flats neighborhood on the village's west side say as much as 3 feet of raw sewage backed up from the village system into about 30 basements through floor drains, bathtubs, showers and toilets during the storm.

And they say the village did little to help with the cleanup, which, at the time, one resident estimated cost more than $3,000.

The problem, Moore said, was with inflow and infiltration, whereby water that should flow through the village's storm water sewer system moved through the sewer system, backing it up.

One of the key improvements is lining the 100-year-old sewer pipes in areas of the village, as well as replacing aged manholes to avoid some of the unwanted runoff breaching the storm water sewer system.

Moore said the village is working to improve communication, both internal among staff and external with residents, as well as improve the village's emergency operations command.

In addition, the village is considering implementing an automated-message phone system to quickly notify residents of an emergency, Moore said.