The City of Foley has approved a project to clear debris from Hurricane Sally from the Bon Secour River.
The $263,000 project will improve drainage and help prevent flooding in downtown Foley and areas west of Alabama Highway 59 and south of U.S. Highway 98.
"After Sally, a lot of the residents cleaned out the best that they could, but there's an area when these two (streams) meet," said public works director Darrel Russell. "There's a lot of buildup of sand and we're not letting up the amount of water that this facility needs here. So we also have water backing up on these homes."
Foley Mayor Ralph Hellmich said the city would be responsible for cleaning the stream bed, and FEMA would help maintain the site in the future.
"You've got to show you're maintaining it," he said. "This is storm fall from Sally. We can't claim it because it's never been maintained before, technically. So, we need to do the initial clean out and then we can get this restriction."
The City of Foley completed a similar project on County Road 12 to help prevent flooding.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email erica.thomas@1819news.com.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
