Did Matthew and Irma flood your Beaufort property? This meeting is for you

Beaufort residents repeatedly awash in flooding from strong storms will have a chance to air concerns and hear solutions from state and local officials Thursday.

But don’t expect change to come quickly.

A special City Council meeting at City Hall at 7 p.m. promises to tell residents how various government agencies plan to tackle drainage issues. Amid growing frustration as flooding from Hurricane Matthew and Irma has ruined the same homes multiple times in less than 12 months, officials say solutions will be costly and not immediate.

“There is no short-term fix,” Beaufort city manager Bill Prokop said Tuesday.

Earlier this month, elected officials asked staff and engineers from the state, county and city to create a task force and pay for a study to analyze the flooding problem in Mossy Oaks, Royal Oaks and areas of Port Royal north of Ribaut Road, Mayor Billy Keyserling said.

State and local governments will look for the $3 million or more expected to complete the work.

Keyserling said he understands residents will be frustrated by the delayed fixes while the issue is studied, but said “this is what it takes in the realm of the government sector.”

“I wish there was a faster way,” he wrote in a newsletter this month. Keyserling later wrote that despite the drainage problems, Irma would have still overwhelmed the city’s stormwater system.

Battery Creek Road near Southside Park was closed briefly after flooding from Irma this month. Some homes on West Royal Oaks Drive and Jane Way, which flooded during Matthew in October 2016, flooded again during Irma.

A notice circulated to area residents about Thursday’s meeting sought to defuse anger over perceived past inaction.

“We welcome your comments and concerns,” the letter from state Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, and County Councilwoman Alice Howard read. “However, our goal is to focus on what needs to be done, and not on what has not been done.”

This story was originally published September 27, 2017 at 2:03 PM with the headline "Did Matthew and Irma flood your Beaufort property? This meeting is for you."