Rainfall improving Cape Coral canal levels

Rainfall from the past week is slowly filling the canals in Cape Coral that had previously been dried up.

The freshwater canals feed the city’s irrigation systems and hundreds of fire hydrants.

Jeff Pearson, the utilities director for the City of Cape Coral, is satisfied with the rising canal levels in the Cape.

“With all the additional rain we received over the past week and a half, we’ve seen a very rapid increase in the canal levels and we’re very pleased to see that,” Pearson said.

Pearson added there are millions of gallons of space in the canals throughout Cape Coral.

“Over 200 million gallons of additional storage before we reach our maximum levels so we’re in pretty good shape,” Pearson said.

Dawn Chambers, of Cape Coral, said she experienced significant flooding on Delilah Drive prior to Hurricane Irma.

“The house across the street was under construction, we had loads of plywood just drifting through our yard,” Chambers said. DAWN CHAMBERS/ Cape Coral,

A city spokesperson told WINK News roots from an old tree were part of a problem in 2017 at the intersection of Chiquita Blvd South and Trafalgar Parkway. Those roots have since been cleared, but only time will solve the problem.

“A city spokesperson told me roots from an old tree were part of the problem with flooding at this intersection of Chiquita and Trafalgar last year. As of today, those roots have been cleared but only time will tell if that will solve the problem.”

Pearson said the city will keep a close eye on the weather this weekend.

“If this weekend we see that there’s a lot of rain coming in, we can lower the Wiers in about 45 minutes so it’s a very rapid process,” Pearson said.

Area residents should avoid driving through flooded roads or playing in the water because it can contain harmful bacteria and chemicals.

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