Cleaning up after the flood
, Staff Writer
03-17-2010
Pulaski officials are still working to place a dollar figure on the amount of damage caused by Saturday’s flooding.
Town Manager John Hawley said the town hasn’t been contacted by any business owners or private residents concerning damage, but the majority of the town’s damage is going to be centered around Dora Highway parks and the New River Trail.
“We’re still getting the list together,” Hawley said. He hoped to have more information to present to Pulaski Town Council at the Tuesday afternoon work session.
Pulaski County Sheriff Jim Davis said his department was preparing to evacuate the sheriff’s office on East Main Street when the rain stopped and Peak Creek started to subside.
With the creek overflowing the retention wall, Newbern Fire Department assisted the sheriff’s office in placing sandbags at the rear entrances to the building to keep the water out.
Had the floodwaters started to enter the building, Davis said the department would have had to transfer 911 calls to Radford City, shut down power to the building and evacuate to another location. He estimated they came within 45 minutes to an hour of having to evacuate.
We’ve practiced (evacuating to another location) before, so we know what we have to do,” he said.
Davis noted that the sheriff’s office building contains the main dispatch center for the county, so it houses around $500,000 worth of computer and communications equipment.
The sheriff expressed gratitude to Pulaski Area Transit for providing buses for the evacuation effort. Although only a few people actually left their homes, he said a number were advised they should leave due to rising water.
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