Flood-stop barriers installed in San Francisco to prevent storm damage
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- With heavy rain in the forecast for Friday, San Francisco officials are taking a new approach to prevent flood damage.
A new type of flood barrier has been put up in a neighborhood previously overrun by water.
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The city is so concerned about flash floods, it tweeted out a warning about seeking higher ground in the event of flooding.
That concern had crews install temporary flood barriers. The red and white plastic barriers line businesses and homes along two blocks of the Mission District near 17th and Folsom streets.
They are called flood-stops filled with recycled water.
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The pilot project aims to protect a low-lying area that often floods in heavy rain when sewers and storm drains overflow. "They come apart and so we have people here that can remove different pieces and stick them back in and so we will have staff on site at all times to help people with that and right now people can get in and out. It's just during those periods of intense, intense rain that we will want to make that water tight seal," San Francisco Public Utilities Commission spokesperson Jean Walsh said.
A resident showed ABC7 News how bad flooding can get in parts of the city.
A few years ago, the city spent $165,000 on the barriers. It may seem like a lot, but the city spent millions last year repairing flood damage in this same neighborhood.
If these barriers prove successful, the city might expand their use to other flood-prone areas like the neighborhoods around Cayuga Street and Alemany Boulevard and Wawona Street and 15th Avenue.
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