Heavy rain caused by Hurricane Florence overcharged the town sewer system. Months following the storm, a sewer collection line collapsed in the downtown business district. Inspection of the damage revealed significant erosion around the infrastructure. The town believes this erosion was the result of Hurricane Florence but went unnoticed for a significant amount of time due to the depth of the line. The town believes that there are other areas of the collection system vulnerable to failure because the metered average monthly flow of the town’s sewer collection system increased following Florence, a likely result of storm-compromised sewer infrastructure causing increased inflow and infiltration. The town proposes to conduct an assessment of the existing infrastructure and prioritize recommendations. Golden LEAF disaster recovery grant fundswill be used to reimburse the town for the completed repairs, for a sewer system study to identify and prioritize other areas damaged as a result of Hurricane Florence, and for engineering and construction to repair sewer infrastructure identified by the study as having been damaged as a result of Hurricane Florence.
