BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Towers Boulevard Neighborhood in Cheektowaga is used to flooding, but this year, they're trying to get ahead of it.
Last year, a storm flooded about 80 homes in the area. Wayne Dziengielewski has lived on Lille Lane for 41 years. He says he's seen a lot of flooding in that time.
"Every time there's a rainstorm, you just drive down the street and all their personal belongings [are] sitting out the front, their couches, their bedding," said Dziengielewski.
It's been a problem for the area and according to Cheektowaga Highway Superintendent Mark Wegner, there's a solution currently being worked on.
Since Hurricane Barry is expected to bring several inches of rain to the area on Wednesday, he said he had to stop the project and use a short term fix.
"We're gonna be putting a temporary connection on the corner here, this way, we can connect everybody from West Cherbourg into the system for tomorrow's storm," explained Wegner.
This temporary fix will put a 42-inch pipe down the middle of the street with receivers running into that and two six-inch lines down the sides to control rain water flow, according to Wegner.
The pipes they put in will divert the water to nearby Eiffel Park so the water can run through a pipe into a rocky area instead of on the streets.
Without this fix, the water can't travel fast enough and would flood the streets, according to Wegner. New receivers should keep the water underground, but still, he hopes the rain is minimal.
"We're hoping that it's no worse than last year, if it's like last year, we're in trouble," said Wegner.
Crews will continue to work throughout the storm, if weather permits. Wegner plans to finish in the next month.
