VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Windsor Woods neighborhood in Virginia Beach is known for flooding during heavy rain events. However, the city says the first step of a significant project to prevent flooding is complete.
“I don’t want anybody to have to go through that,” said Brian Hussey, a resident of Windsor Woods.
Hussey still remembers the flooding that occurred almost 10 years ago inside his mother’s home, during what he describes as the 'perfect storm' that brought 18 inches of water.
“Three or four days of a Nor'easter hit and directly after that, Hurricane Matthew struck, dumping 11 inches of rain. There was no place for the water to go,” Hussey said.
Since December 2022, construction has been underway to prevent a similar situation. Located just outside Mount Trashmore Skate Park on Lake Windsor, the Windsor Woods Tide Gate Project is in progress.
“The tide gate itself is complete now; that’s the first step of the Windsor Woods program,” said Mike Tippin with the city’s Stormwater Engineering Center.
Tippin explained that the flooding caused by Hurricane Matthew resulted from a combination of stormwater runoff in Lake Windsor and high tide.
The flood gate will help isolate the lake and facilitate drainage.
“If we had a large storm coming up, we could close the gates right now, turn the pumps on, and start draining,” he said.
While the gates are currently operational, they must be closed manually.
Upcoming work will involve installing sensors that will allow the gates to close automatically when certain water levels are reached.
“This isn’t something that's expected to be used during every rainfall, like [the rain] we saw on Tuesday, but it will help mitigate water during those perfect storms,” Tippin added.
“We only expect the tide gate to operate maybe three to five times a year during larger storms like significant Nor'easters or hurricanes,” he said.
The city anticipates that work on installing the sensors will begin in the next two weeks.
