By Andy Dahn
BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington Public Works Director Jim Karch said while city crews were prepared for yesterday’s powerful winds, rain and ice, the magnitude of the storm came as somewhat of a surprise.
Karch said fallen trees wrecked havoc across the entire community.
“It’s amazing how much damage those big trees can cause,” Karch said. “All over town, whole roots and trees had nothing to hold onto and they just completely tipped over.”
Despite city crews being prepared for severe conditions, Karch said this storm exceeded their expectations.
“It feels like this was one of those 100 year type events,” said Karch. “A lot of our basins were overflowing and they’re designed to overflow for a 100 year event. That means that there’s a one-percent chance that an event like this will happen in a given year.”
Fire, police and other city crews continue to work on cleaning up damage from yesterday’s storm. Karch said the best way residents can help city crews clean up the mess is to be patient.
“With the amount of material that will be coming to the curb, our crews will continue to go around and pick up things as quickly as they can,” Karch said. “Just have patience as we go through the cleanup throughout the next four weeks around town.”
Many areas of the community are still without power today and Karch reminded drivers to stop and be cautious at streetlights that have no power.
Andy Dahn can be reached at andy.dahn@cumulus.com.
