City of Atlanta working to address major flooding problem in Midtown

ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta says it is actively working to address a major flooding problem in Midtown Atlanta.

Every time it rains, the intersection at Piedmont Avenue and East Morningside Drive starts to flood.

A neighbor contacted Channel 2’s Craig Lucie about the problem a few weeks ago, but Lucie wanted to wait to do the story until we had heavy rains so we could show viewers what the problem was really like.

After Thursday’s downpours, Britt Menzies shot iPhone video and sent it to Lucie.

"The water comes up really high when they go fast," said Menzies.
 
Every time it rains, Menzies says water starts to pool at the intersection and into her driveway.
In the video, you can see cars race by, splashing water, until the floodwaters get so high that drivers have to slow down.

“It’s extremely dangerous! This water pools at one of the busiest intersections in Midtown, and we have all this high water pooling in with no drainage and it doesn’t make sense,” said Menzies.

Menzies said the flooding started more than five years ago. That’s when she first sent an email to the city to send someone out so it could be fixed.

"I have been contacting the city since 2010, and to date no one has rectified the situation," said Menzies.
 
Lucie used a measuring stick to see how high the water was rising. When it floods, the water covers part of the median -- and the curb there is 6 inches high.

"When the water gets so high, it covers that little median so cars could go over the median. We have seen a ton of back-ended accidents because people don't realize it," said Menzies.
 
When Lucie reached out to the city, officials sent him this statement Friday afternoon:

“The City of Atlanta Department of Public Works and the Department of Watershed Management are aware of the ponding issues at the intersection of Piedmont Ave and E. Morningside Dr. NE, and are actively working together to address the problem. After evaluating the street profile, the City determined that because of the topography of the street, ponding issues cannot be resolved through resurfacing repairs alone. Instead, the necessary repairs are extensive and require the installation of underground piping and storm drains. The City of Atlanta is exploring funding alternatives to improve the street drainage and to resurface the road.”

Menzies is frustrated since she’s worked on getting the problem fixed for half a decade now with very few answers on a future plan.

“The Mayor’s Office has been contacted. It seems to be getting stuck in Public Works, who are the responsible parties in this. It shouldn’t be my responsibility to bug them for five years I just hope that you guys help me get this done because it’s getting more and more dangerous,” said Menzies.

We will let you know when the city starts to fix the issue.

WSBTV