From beavers to billions: Mobile faces costly drainage decisions after Sunday floods

By John Sharp | jsharp@al.com

It all began with concerns over beavers.

As the conversation progressed, concerns about flooded city streets shifted to worries about falling leaves and tree roots clogging the ditches.

The solutions proposed by council members on Tuesday ranged from the simple—just unclog the ditches—to the much more costly idea of spending hundreds of millions of dollars to overhaul Mobile’s drainage system.

But as Mobile leaders gathered in one of the rainiest cities in the U.S., just two days after torrential downpours flooded parts of downtown and midtown, the focus of their discussion turned to how best to prepare for future storms of even greater intensity.

“It’s a huge challenge,” Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson said.

Focus on boring

The storm on Sunday had dropped 8-9 inches of rain on the city, leaving the newly rehabilitated Broad Street submerged. Portions of historic Leinkauf neighborhood resembled a flowing river and reports of cars being stuck in the flood waters were common throughout the city.

Councilman Ben Reynolds emphasized the need for prioritizing drainage issues, even if they are considered “boring.”

He cited the extensive damage suffered by St. Petersburg, Fla., from Hurricane Helene and Milton last fall.

According to media reports, the City of St. Petersburg incurred at least $247.3 million in costs associated with debris collection efforts. Reynolds, though, said the property damages within the city are significant and illustrate a worry for other coastal cities in an era of destructive storms.

“The problem is we need to go after large sums of money to address major infrastructure projects,” Reynolds said, urging city officials to avoid chasing more “exciting” projects like the $300 million Mobile Civic Center development and focus on the more “boring” aspects of being a municipal leader that includes rebuilding drainage systems.

“What we saw (Sunday) should serve as a warning,” he said. “It was a rain event. It was a deluge. We have four to five a year, but it only takes one to wipe out a family’s house. Just one.”

Beaver nuisance

Councilman William Carroll urged city leaders to address nuisance beavers and the inundation of leaves into the city’s drains which he believes adds to the problem of flooded streets.

His concerns about the beavers, which can build dams that can lead to flooded roads, come about one month after the council approved a three-year $13,000 annual contract with Waylon Wildlife Services LLC to trap the animals. The company has 23 traps set up throughout Mobile.

Alabama state law prevents the company from re-locating the beavers. The company, instead, reportedly kills the animals because of its inability to have beavers relocated.

Animal rights groups have emerged in recent weeks to raise concerns over the treatment of beavers, and to urge the city to consider alternatives.

The city is considering installing so-called “beaver deceivers” that could cost taxpayers anywhere from $45,000 to $70,000, and includes building a hidden extended culvert into a waterway meant to confuse the animals. The costs are aimed at keeping beavers from clogging up ditches in areas where Waylon’s Wildlife Service is monitoring.

Unclogging drains

Carroll also urged city officials to monitor the downtown area’s drains to make sure they were not clogged with leaves and other debris.

However, Stimpson said the problem with downtown’s drainage system is far bigger than leaves. Stimpson pointed to a specific problem on Church Street, between Jackson and Joachim streets, where drains are completely clogged with tree roots.

“As we continue to plant trees on top of storm drains, what happens, is the roots are seeking water,” Stimpson said. “If there is a slight crack in the pipe, the root grows into it.”

He said the problem is citywide, and not just in the downtown area. The mayor said he is hoping to present the council soon with modifications to the city’s tree ordinance that will prevent plantings near storm drains and inlets.

“If we don’t change our practices, from a maintenance standpoint, I don’t know if we can ever keep up with it,” he said.

Different approaches

Councilman Joel Daves said he doesn’t believe there is much the city can do to resolve some of the flooding without spending an exorbitant amount of money to do so.

“I’m 100 percent behind doing what we can with modest expenses to address it but we will never, ever eliminate flooding in these flood prone areas when we have rains like we did Sunday night,” Daves said.

Reynolds said a “modest approach” to the problem isn’t going to resolve it.

Reynolds acknowledged the high cost of addressing drainage problems, citing a $20 million project in his district that alleviated flooding issues.

The City of Mobile allocated $32 million for its Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for fiscal year 2025, which began last September. The program focuses on enhancing public infrastructure, including drainage.

“It’s a matter of priorities and where we spend the money,” he said, adding that he was concerned what Sunday’s storm represented.

“This wasn’t even a hurricane,” he said. “We need to re-evaluate our priorities going forward and improve our infrastructure in the city.”

READ MORE HERE: Mobile has one of the highest rainfall rates in America, and its drainage system is failing - al.com

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