Residents seek answers following flood

Rexburg residents scurried to restore basements after Tuesday’s flood.

Basements are filled with water and mud, and now it’s up to the people living there to clean up the mess, but residents like Todd Leishman of the Hidden Valley subdivision said the city should aid in restoration efforts.

“We’re hoping the city is going to help us, but the bottom line is that this ditch wasn’t built right anyway, so it’s kind of their fault,” he said.

The neighborhood is built along a canal and Leishman’s home sits right next to a drainage ditch. Flood waters broke out of all four of his basement windows and filled it with 4.5 feet of water. Leishman said he has lived in his home for more than a decade. He said over the years he’s had a lot of close calls with flooding and even built a cinder-block wall to keep out canal overflow.

“I thought we had it, but apparently not,” said Leishman.

Mayor Richard S. Woodland explained that there was nothing the city could have done to prevent this matter and that it has done all they can to help with the cleanup effort.

“This is one of those things that the best-engineered storm drain plans wouldn’t have ameliorated at all. It was just that overwhelming,” said Woodland. “We’ll just see how it’s going to shake out in time. We just are not certain yet of what insurance will cover, and what we’ll be able to cover.”

The city received 16 claims Wednesday, all of which it hopes to resolve. City officials said they are looking into their insurance plan to aid residents with reconstruction.