CENTRAL mdash; Ten years after the 2016 flood, the city of Central has poured millions of dollars into flood prevention efforts, and Mayor Wade Evans says he is not waiting on the state to keep that work going.Evans told WBRZ that city leaders have requested funding from the state to address floodi ng in the Draughn Creek Basin, but he is moving forward regardless.Central residents Joseph and Deborah Calicki still remember the night the water came."I got a call from a neighbor, and he said his parents woke up to water coming in their house," Joseph Calicki said."I got up, and I could see water coming down Ashton...You could actually see it moving. Coming this way."In the days and weeks after the water receded, the Calicki family helped neighbors get back on their feet. Their washing machine ran for three days straight as they washed, folded, and bagged clothes for others.Evans knows that experience firsthand. Before becoming mayor, his own home flooded."I had 23 inches of water," Evans said. "I was floating my children out in a Rubbermaid bin."That meant writing new policies and physically digging ditches."It means if you develop something in Central, you're required to retain the water on your site longer than if it would have run off, if it wasn't developed," Evans said.Since 2016, the city has spent $30 million cleaning debris out of bayous to help floodwaters flow away more quickly. The federal government also awarded Central $75 million in flood prevention grants to create retention ponds and expand ditches and drains."We spent $7 million surveying our underground system and sucking the muck out of culverts," Evans said. "We've spent considerable resources to make water flow better."The city also created high-resolution maps to track flooding and help residents prepare. Still, Evans was direct when asked whether Central would flood again under similar conditions."Yes. Yes. That's a thousand-year flood," Evans said. "Now, if that level of rain came today, would everyone who flooded flood? No."The city has flood prevention projects scheduled for Draughn Creek that could reduce flood risk for 208 homes.Permalink| Comments ...read more read less