Area officials investigate source of flooding problems

The mayor said the sewer where a boy died was n't broken.
& lt;a href=mailto:siff@vindy.com & gt;By STEPHEN SIFF & lt;/a & gt;
and PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- The storm drain where 10-year-old John Keytack drowned is just one of hundreds in a city that has 250 miles of open ditches and 150 miles of underground storm sewers, city officials say.
And so far, officials are not sure that this one was broken when John drowned Monday, during the city's rainiest 24-hour period on record.
"The particular sewer is not fixed because to my knowledge it is not broken," Mayor Hank Angelo told council two days after the drowning.
Mae Stark, whose house is on the corner of Irene Avenue and University Street, said she raised four children in that home and the sewers caused no problems.
"They have always been like that, but my kids weren't playing in them," Stark said. "The day after the boy died, the kids were back doing the same thing. They are back here again today. I can't wait for September when they are all back in school."
Investigation
Workers in the city's waste department have been monitoring the area to pinpoint the source of water that turned ditches along University Northeast into rivers and sections of street in the middle-class neighborhood into ponds.
Waste director Tom Angelo said workers would also investigate if any storm sewer lines or catch basins are plugged. He said he did not know how long it would take.
It's the same task the department is pursuing in a half-dozen areas in the city that experienced extreme flooding, including Palmyra Road.
Residents on streets near the drowning say flooding has been a fact of life in their neighborhood for decades.
"It is news to us," Angelo said.
He said his department has not received a flooding complaint about overflowing ditches on University since the department took over storm sewers in 2000.
Neighbors around the corner on Irene Northeast complained about flooding last year, Angelo said. As a result, the department cleaned out a catch basin in the woods between the street and the Elm Road Twin Drive-in, he said.
"The flooding has been bad," said Lynn Parker, of Irene. "City officials have been told, but not much gets done."
Darlene and Don Pitzer, also of Irene, said the area has always had some flooding problems but nothing as severe as last week.
"The rains last week were just extreme," Pitzer said.
& lt;a href=mailto:siff@vindy.com & gt;siff@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;
& lt;a href=mailto:sinkovich@vindy.com & gt;sinkovich@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;