Highway Department on the watch for floods

It’s all about H20.

Over the weekend for the Shelter Island Highway Department it was about moving the solid form of the equation off the roads and streets. Now it’s the melting snow turning to water that’s flowing into drains and might become a danger of flooding.

Highway Superintendent Jay Card said his crews had concerns about storm drains clogging after any significant storm, but with snow still hiding many of the drains, a lot of them of them will be hard to locate.

“We’ll drive around and address them as they appear,” Mr. Card said. “Sometimes the water is clear and running into them like underground rivers.”

But if it’s noted that the drains are clogged and roads begin to see signs of pooling, the situation will be addressed, he said.

There were no problems with high tides over the weekend threatening to flood the Island. “Tides are always a concern,” Mr. Card said. “But until we actually get to the point where we’re going to commit to elevating the roads above a certain flood stage, we’re married to this.”