City of Dickinson urges residents to pre-emptively reduce risk of flood damage

Jason R. O'Day, The Dickinson Press, N.D.
·2 min read

Jul. 8—DICKINSON — In a letter to the Dickinson community on Friday, Interim City Administrator Dustin Dassinger sought to remind residents about the importance of being proactive in mitigating the risk of water damage to their properties. Dassinger said he hopes it will be useful to people in surrounding areas as well.

"Within the last few weeks, we have experienced an

unprecedented

amount of rainfall in our community. With each storm, new complications and damages have arisen, not only to city infrastructure, but also to many of the homes and properties in our community," Dassinger stated in the letter. "In an effort to educate and better prepare our citizens for future storms, we have prepared a list of preventative measures that can be employed by property owners in order to reduce the risk of damages to not only their properties, but also to surrounding neighbors and community businesses."

Dassinger's suggested tips are as followed:

* Inspect your rain gutter and downspout extensions and keep them downward to ensure runoff from your roof is flowing away from your home or business. Look for low spots along the edges of, or throughout your property that are holding water. Build up these areas with soil or hire a landscaping service to assist. Keep in mind that the primary objective is to divert water away from your yard and into the nearest storm drain.

* If stormwater flows through your property, ensure there are no obstructions that prevent it from leaving your property. Keep your yard well maintained by properly disposing of leaves, grass clippings, tree branches and other loose material to prevent runoff of these materials into the stormwater drains.

* If you see grass, leaves, trash or other debris clogging up a storm drain; be a thoughtful citizen and help the Dickinson Public Works Department by removing and properly disposing of it. To report clogged stormwater drains in Dickinson, call 701-456-7979.

Additionally, Stark County Emergency Management is

requesting

that residents report damages incurred from the severe storm on July 3. Send the information via email to nlorenzen@starkcountynd.gov or call 701-456-7609. The deadline to submit damages is Friday, July 15.