NORFOLK, Va. — DOWNLOAD: 13News Now App
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The City of Norfolk is preparing for high tide flooding from Hurricane Dorian.
On Thursday, crews worked hard and quickly to clear storm drains, ditches, pipes and retaining ponds of debris.
Street sweepers clocked extra miles. In downtown, seldom-raised flood gates are set to go up by Nauticus by 4 p.m.
High tide waters are inevitable with a storm of this magnitude, but reducing the impact is key for the Norfolk neighborhoods that already suffer from regular nuisance flooding, like Ghent, Larchmont and Ocean View.
"Our flooding does not come from [the beach], it comes from the storm drains," Karen Saunders said.
Karen and Steve Saunders in the Willoughby Spit area of Ocean View know there's only so much the city can do. After 20 years in their home, they have a routine nailed down ahead of big storms.
"Anything that's worth havin' is 3 ft. high," Steve said, referring to his garage.
"We had 3 ft. in the garage three times," Karen said.
All the patio furniture and decor comes inside, and Steve's treasured Corvette heads to an elevated parking garage not too far away.
"When [the city] tells me I gotta go, I usually leave. But this time I think we can stay and watch it," Karen said, optimistic about Hurricane Dorian's potential impacts.
In more recent years, they credit a pump station installed by the City of Norfolk at the end of their street for curbing flooding issues.
The city crews will be working around the clock until the storm passes, and cleaning up whatever it leaves behind.
If you see an issue in your neighborhood with drainage, call Norfolk Cares as soon as possible at 757-664-6510.
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