Cape Coral crews work to prepare for possible flooding from Fred

The countdown is on for City of Cape Coral crews as they brace for a lot of rain this weekend.

One by one, crews removed grates from the weir off Chiquita Boulevard. They also cleared all the debris so any excess water can drain as fast as possible.

On Thursday, the water was flowing smoothly.

“We have some grates that protect the storm pipe from being clogged with debris and sticks, and in advance of the storm we like to remove those so that the excess water that comes into the system can drain as fast as possible,” said Mike Ilcyzszyn, assistant public works director.

Ilcyzszyn said if the water doesn’t drain, that can lead to the worst.

“When we’re in the middle of the rainy season, as you can see from the height of these canals, we’re pretty much at capacity, so the ability to absorb any additional rain isn’t within the system so we do within the best we can to open it up and provide the capacity to keep streets from flooding,” Ilcyzszyn said.

Elsa brought heavy rain causing many Cape Coral streets to flood.

In the area of Tropicana Parkway, the water stretched all the way up driveways; even cars had trouble getting through.

And just this week, a part of Cape Coral Parkway was flooded out due to heavy rain.

Roxanne Crostreet said she’s used to flooding on Trafalgar.

“It gets very, very flooded in that corner. Not only it’s a problem but people start deviating and taking other roads and that’s when you see accidents happening. Many times I see people stuck,” Crostreet said.

Other neighbors are hoping with the city’s efforts that Fred doesn’t bring flooding woes.

“There’s been controls done and I think throughout Cape Coral to control the flooding in this and I think it’s done a pretty good job considering the situation, how close to sea level we are, how much water comes down pretty fast,” said Jack Pounds.

Ilcyzszyn said crews are working often during the rainy season to clean weirs and they are also addressing complaints of flooding by areas of urgency.