dedicated to getting results a PI team
[Music]
and now to an i-team investigation into
this road in Putnam counties you can see
looks more like a pond than something
drivers used to get to work this is
County Road 308 B and we laka neighbors
tell us there's been so much rain it's
been under water for two months they're
worried about what will happen if
ambulances can't get to them in time
especially since they say the county has
told them there's nothing they can do to
fix it
hi team investigator Jennifer watch
shows us what she's discovered not only
does this part of the road connect one
part of Alaska to the other and the
entire town to Crescent City but it's
also the fastest route to deliver
emergency assistance here this believe
it or not is the shallowest it's been
since July and as you can see the water
is still up to above my calf so almost
12 inches deep the people who use this
road to get to work and home say they
feel like the county is ignoring the
problem it goes up on each side probably
about 200 yards that way and 200 yards
this way David's rider says it's
ridiculous something has not been done
about the water on this road
Putnam roads is pretty much telling me
to say a prayer and there's nothing they
can do about it the sheriff's are
telling me that they're monitoring these
roads right now and I have been down
here quite a bit I've never seen law
enforcement officer here I'm just fed up
I am tired of not going around he's not
alone as a former member of as a first
responder our job is to help save people
and help get to people when they need
help and assistance and with this road
being like this we can't do it Desiree
Meyers teenage son has heart problems
she's worried something may happen and
rescue won't reach him in time it's a
matter of life and death
it really is and the county needs to be
held responsible for making sure that
first responders and EMTs and
firefighters can get here to do their
jobs I mean it's as simple as that and
they're we're doing all we can is it
good enough the alternate routes are
several miles out of the way from the
air you can see how much water is
on the road and covering the land on
either side of it our sky for chopper
also captured video of a nearby home
that's flooded Isiah Mills is the owner
I have not seen the kind of do anything
but put up to come here and put a diesel
of thanks a wild over the road we wanted
answers to we went to the county
manager's office to get them
Administrator Terry Suggs the
Commissioner who represents welaka and
the county's public works director were
waiting for us what we're trying to do
is try to find a solution to the problem
that will be long-lasting we don't have
that solution yet they're not being
ignored we're looking at it every day
all three admit they are at their wit's
end so much water from OMA and constant
rain since July has saturated the ground
waters just sitting there's really no
place to drain this water efficiently
the county's public works director
describes this part of county road 308
be as a bowl we're 70 feet above sea
level over here was 4050 feet over here
all this water is channeling down press
Tompkins shows us on this topographical
map which measures elevation that the
land on either side of the flooded Road
is much lower than other parts of welaka
what about pumping the water out what
about digging ditches on either side to
get the water off of the road as I said
it's in a bowl so if you try to dig
ditches on the other side they're gonna
be going extremely deep they would take
up a tremendous amount of property to do
that and I don't really think that's a
viable solution if I try to pump water
anywhere here it's still got nowhere to
go
I'd just be recycling the same water
over and over again I've been out there
probably more than a dozen times after
hour during hours everything trying to
see what's going on what we can do and
we're putting every bit of resources we
have to try to look at this and come up
with a solution what about emergency
response getting there because that
portion of the road is closed the road
is closed for safety reasons for the
residents out there for small vehicles
and motorcycles and things of that
nature our safety vehicles are still
able to traverse that highway and get
out there if there is a need now that we
have brought the concerns to the county
the administrator the Commissioner who
covers this district as well as the
public works director all say
they would be happy to meet with the
people of welaka to explain to them why
there is no immediate or easy fix to
this problem and they also acknowledge
that with the peak of the hurricane
season upon us this is likely to get
worse before it gets better
Jennifer watch channel 4 the local
station