NORFOLK, Va. — Flooding is something most folks in Norfolk are used to.
But long-time Norfolk residents like Cheryl Stewart say she's concerned when it rains.
"Lately, it seems that a lot of the neighborhoods are underwater when we have a really heavy rain,” Stewart said.
Stewart, who works in Norfolk, moved out of the city due to frequent damaging floods.
“One time I was driving a jeep. My car broke down, and I called them(AAA) during a nor'easter and AAA wouldn't come to Norfolk, " Stewart said. "They said 'We're not coming to Norfolk, there's too much water there."'
That night she left with one decision.
"I had to just leave my vehicle somewhere and hope that it wasn't going to be underwater when I came back,” Stewart said.
Tonight at the Southside STEM Academy, the Norfolk Office of Resiliency hosted the first of the four planned open houses. The event brings multiple city departments to show locals current and future planned projects that can hopefully make the city more prepared for flooding.
"We have a very large project that we're doing with the Army Corps of Engineers. But that's not the only project that we're doing. We're doing lots of stormwater projects, preparedness and lots of planning initiatives to try to prepare our community for a range of projects for the future to protect us from flooding and make us more resilient,” one city employee said.
This is a move Stewart believes is sorely needed.
“I just hope that we can remedy what's going on in our area. We've just got to come up with better solutions or maybe just not build so close to the water,” Stewart said.
City officials said these sessions will allow them to collect feedback from residents.
The open houses will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at each location:
- March 14: Southside STEM Academy at Campostella, 1106 Campostella Rd.
- March 19: East Ocean View Senior Center, 9520 20th Bay St.
- March 21: Jordan-Newby Anchor Branch Library, 1425 Norchester Ave.
- March 25: Lambert’s Point Community Center, 1251 W 42nd St.
You can learn more on the city's website.