City swamped by March storm as 2 to 5 inches of rain floods Bellevue streets
Flow into the wastewater plant jumped from 600,000 gallons to 6.5 million overnight, and lightning knocked out the U.S. 20 underpass pumps.
Bellevue spent Friday dealing with flooded streets after an overnight storm dropped 2 to 5 inches of rain across the region.
Safety-Service Director Jeffrey Crosby said the wastewater treatment plant, which normally handles about 600,000 gallons, was sending water into the big ditch at a rate of 6.5 million gallons overnight. By late afternoon the flow had dropped to about 3.5 million.
The groundwater level, which had been about 8.5 feet below the surface, rose to within a foot and a half. Crosby said Gardner and Northwest streets and Redwood Terrace, a street that never floods, needed attention. In Bellevue’s limestone ground, water drains through the rock, so a sudden rise in groundwater can back up quickly.
Lightning hit the electric system that runs the pumps at the U.S. 20 underpass, and water stood there for a time until crews reset the system. The same storm cut power to Norfolk Southern’s facilities, the Solae plant on Goodrich Road and parts of town.
Flood information is posted by the National Weather Service in Cleveland. Why Bellevue drains the way it does: the city without sewers. Related: the utility rate study. More in Local News.