| http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=b95abcfbba5864d0 By Rhiannon Meyers The Daily News Published January 8, 2010 GALVESTON - Sixteen months after Hurricane Ike struck Galveston, the storm is continuing to wreak havoc on the island's streets. Galveston's streets, notorious for potholes before the hurricane, are continuing to crack, sink and crumble in what the city said are latent effects of the hurricane. But the Federal Emergency Management Agency will not pay to repair streets just now showing damage, Eric Wilson, director of municipal utilities, said. The street damage is a result of the hurricane's storm surge and the abnormally heavy rainfall in Galveston in 2009, Angelo Grasso, director of public works, said. When Hurricane Ike struck Galveston on Sept. 13, 2008, the storm surge swamped three-quarters of the island and filled the city's storm sewers and sewage pipes. The salty water mixed with raw sewage, creating a mild sulfuric acid that has been eating away at the city's underground infrastructure. The corrosive gunk has taken a special toll on World War II-era concrete sewer pipes between 40th and 59th streets, and Seawall Boulevard and Broadway, Grasso said. As those pipes dissolve and crumble, Galveston's sandy ground sinks, too, and potholes form in streets, he said. In December, the concrete sewer pipes under the alleys between Avenue R and Avenue R1/2, and 52nd to 54th Streets, dissolved as a result of the acid. City crews pumped the sewer with a vacuum truck twice a day for more than a week before they were able to dig up the pipe to figure out the problem. Part of the line was gone, and as crews tried to repair the rest of the line, it continued to crumble and break apart, Grasso said. In the end, city crews had to repair four blocks of damaged pipe. The heavy thunderstorms in 2009 exacerbated the street damage, Grasso said. Though summer 2009 was particularly dry, Galveston received double its average rainfall in April, October and December, according to the National Weather Service. The rain saturated the ground, making the road's subsurface even more unstable, Grasso said. As the months have ticked by after the storm, complaints continue to pour into city hall about the damaged roads, Grasso said. Residents are especially irritated about Stewart Road, particularly the stretch between 75th Street and Cove View. No matter how often crews repair the potholes there, the damage returns, he said. Grasso said the good news is that a county bond package, approved by voters in November 2008, will pay to replace Stewart Road in coming months. Meanwhile, FEMA has agreed to pay to repair some city roads that were partially washed out in the hurricane, including Boddeker Drive. But FEMA won't pay to repair roads completely washed out in the storm, such as Bermuda Beach Drive and East and West Buena Vista in the Spanish Grant subdivision, and it won't pay for latent street damage. Until the city can figure out how to pay for those street repairs, residents should expect potholes and cracks to appear in streets throughout the city, Grasso said. Still, he urged residents to continue to report street damage to city hall so city crews can do repairs as needed. |