Cities say storm drains performed well during flooding

After at least one home was damaged during flash flooding in Ammon and eastern Idaho Falls Tuesday night, Local News 8 is asking if the storm drains were equipped to handle the flood.

Idaho Falls Public Works Director Chris Fredericksen said his employees worked overtime to ensure the drains worked properly.

“It was something that we had to deal with and just to make sure those inlets were open and we could move as much water as we possibly could,” said Fredericksen.

But despite Fredericksen’s best efforts, the heavy rainfall in just a short space of time proved more than Idaho Falls’ storm drains were prepared for.

The city of Ammon faced similar problems.

“It’s probably a one in 100 year storm kind of a thing,” said Ammon Public Works Director Ray Ellis of Tuesday’s flood.

Ellis said the city’s storm system is “not gonna handle volumes and volumes in an instant, but it does handle a lot of water over a given period of time.”

“Our storm system actually performed quite well considering the amount of rain that we had last night,” said Fredericksen.