West Seattle Weather Watch: Check those drains, again

| Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle weather

(photo added Tuesday morning — Wally said he had a mossed-over roof gutter and we asked for a pic!)
The forecast summaries don’t look too apocalyptic but Wally sent a note pointing us to the forecast “discussion” for Thursday-Friday – the possibility of heavy rain and breezy weather resulted in this note from the National Weather Service:

COULD ALSO SEE SOME LOCALLY HEAVY ACCUMULATIONS OVER THE LOWLANDS…FALL LEAVES CLOGGING DRAINS COULD EXACERBATE THE PROBLEM…SO THE SWING SHIFT SENT A SPS HIGH-LIGHTING THE POTENTIAL FOR MOUNTAIN AND LOWLAND LEAF CLOGGED DRAIN FLOODING.

Bottom line, check those drains again in the next day or two – those colorful leaves are beautiful but once they’re down, they can cause big trouble if they wind up blocking your drains, private and public property.

J November 3, 2008 (4:53 pm)

Aren’t all the businesses hiring leaf-blowers to blow leaves off the parking strip and into the street contributing to this problem?

WSB November 3, 2008 (8:34 pm)

We did have that discussion on the last thread. That is actually against city code, if they are blowing debris into the street. Question I need to follow up on is, how do you report such a thing? (and to whom)

JumboJim November 4, 2008 (10:26 am)

Oh man, that is one overdue gutter cleaning in the photo – moss like that doesn’t grow overnight! Maybe scoop it out and put it on the roots of a bonsai pine tree for beautification and recycling…

Wally Wilson November 4, 2008 (12:44 pm)

Yeah, that is only two year’s worth of inattention (by me). They’ll all be clean and shiny by the end of today.

-=-=-

It looks like street leaves are a two-pronged issue. First, according to SDOT, it is the property owner’s responsibility to REMOVE the leaves from their sidewalks. Blowing leaves into the streets does not constitute removal, and this puts the issue into a bit of a grey area where Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD), Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) or Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) could all get involved.

What I’ve been able to find is that there are two places to lodge complaints for things like leaf debris. First, wet leaf debris on roads (and sidewalks) creates an unsafe condition for driving and walking due to decreased abilities to stop or maneuver quickly. Flooding due to leaf debris is potentially unsafe to both drivers and walkers (especially small children), and it also can present a flooding hazard to nearby and downhill houses.

It appears that street leaves and street flooding due to clogged storm sewers are reportable to SDOT and to SPU. SDOT has a 24-hour emergency dispatch line at 206-386-1212. SPU has a 24-hour hotline at its Adopt a Street/Drain office.

A recent note from the city regarding the issue:
http://www.seattle.gov/util/About_SPU/News/News_Releases/SPU01_004037.asp

Additional information from SDOT:
http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/stuse_faq.htm#gen5
and…
http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation/streetmaintenance.htm#leaf