Livingston, Barge Design Group To Tackle Flooding Issues

Livingston and Barge Design Group will look to tackle flooding issues that arose following February’s heavy storms.

City Mayor Curtis Hayes said the city’s Board of Aldermen voted Monday to have Barge assist in examining what caused the severe flooding.

“The Barge Design Group is going to be doing a further survey on exactly what happened, what failed, and how to improve that,” Hayes said. “I think along with TDOT, they will be working together to come up with a solution. I don’t think there is a ‘silver bullet’ that was brought up Monday night that could fix it, but I think a collaborative effort could get the job done.”

Record rainfall caused several major roadways to flood across Overton County in February, including the intersection of Highway 52 and Bradford Hicks Drive.

Hayes said the incident measures up to a “thousand-year flood” impacting the lives of several city residents.

“I spoke to the residents and business owners and they just have concerns about fixing the problem first, and if there’s financial aid out there through emergency management services,” Hayes said. “Whether that be FEMA or TEMA, they’d love to have access to it.”

City residents and business owners addressed the Mayor and Aldermen during Monday’s monthly work session, as they continue to wait on federal assistance to help recover from flood damages.

“We’re just working with TEMA and FEMA along with engineers to try and get the problem resolved, and to try and get people reimbursed for their trouble as much as we possibly can,” Hayes said.

Overton-Pickett E911 Director Chris Masiongale reported during Monday’s meeting that FEMA has no updates at this time regarding emergency funding.