UNIVERSITY CITY — A group of area officials and scientists has mounted a campaign to post signs across this ºüÀêÊÓƵ suburb, warning residents of flooding high-water marks and alerting the area of the potential for danger to come.
One of the white signs sits above the upper River Des Peres, on a bridge that is now flanked by condemned homes. Another is near apartments that were inundated by floodwater. A third is on the fencing for the Heman Park pool, which just saw its long-awaited reopening, after almost a year of flood-related repairs.
“We need to do a better job of making the public situationally aware of these flooding issues,†said Eric Stein, a member of University City’s Commission on Storm Water Issues who helped put up the signs and who also spearheaded its creation of a new warning system that was unveiled in the wake of last year’s flood, designed to alert residents of flash flooding. “It’s a public service to make people aware of dangers.â€
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Nearly a year after record-shattering rains and severe flash flooding struck the ºüÀêÊÓƵ region, many signs of the event are still evident around hard-hit communities like University City — from condemned homes to debris still tangled in fences or coating the interior walls of homes.
In University City, the signs are now literal. They’re metal, roughly license plate-sized reminders of the flash flooding that swept through the area and upended the lives of many local residents. University City, in particular, was a regional epicenter of damage along its stretches of the highly sensitive and increasingly flood-prone upper River Des Peres.
Stein said posting the signs was an attempt by the commission to be proactive — a step that he said needed to be taken but one that the city might not have gotten around to for a while, given the many aspects of flood recovery it is juggling.
“We were trying to help the city out,†he said, adding that the move is consistent with the commission’s recommendations in post-flood reports and presentations to the city council. “Cities have a lot on their plate following a flood like this.â€
Stein’s own home was severely flooded last year and in 2008. He said he speaks to lots of other residents and fellow flood victims after episodes of high water and is constantly struck by how little people know about local flood risks, even in homes that are required to carry flood insurance.
“‘I didn’t know it would do this,’†Stein said, echoing a refrain he often hears from flooded residents. “It’s like people sort of knew it but not really — hence the public awareness campaign.â€
It’s a bit unclear what impact the signs might have had thus far based on recent rounds of door knocking at nearby homes. Some residents hadn’t noticed the signs, while others were only slightly aware of them and largely apathetic about their presence.
Some homeowners, after some thought, said that they might worry about the signs if they were aiming to sell their home.
“I don’t want someone to find that sign and think it’s going to be like Noah’s ark every summer,†said Wyatt Johnston, who lives close to one of the signs. (At his home, Johnston also felt that last summer’s flooding was fueled more by runoff and sewer backups than the River Des Peres itself.)
Stein said he fielded criticism from a local resident once when he was posting one of the signs but said her reasons for disapproval were not clear.
“I’m sure real estate agents don’t like them,†Stein said. “We tried not to put it right in front of somebody’s house. ... We’re sensitive to that.â€
University City officials could not be reached Friday for comment on the signs.
Beyond the signage, the city’s stormwater commission continues to pursue multiple approaches to promote better public understanding about flood risks, such as arranging presentations about flood mitigation steps homeowners can take and how residents can assess threat levels facing their own house.
Meanwhile, there’s at least one more sign that Stein hopes to post — somewhere along Wilson Avenue, where a string of past property buyouts occurred after 2008, when deadly flash flooding occurred along the street.
“We’re hoping this will expand,†said Stein, evaluating the future of the signage campaign. “We need one over on Wilson Avenue, for sure.â€
Local officials hoped to help hundreds of homeowners with federal buyouts after their houses flooded last summer. Now the list stands at just 52. And even those who made the cut are left waiting.Â