Flood mitigation analysis to be presented, feedback requested at upcoming Uniontown forum

Uniontown has been overwhelmed by recurrent flash flooding in recent years.
There was an overnight flood in June 2016 that local officials and business owners called the worst flood in the city that they could remember.
Redstone Creek flooding prompted a state of emergency in the city in July 2017, leaving parts of 11 different city streets closed.
The following July, heavy rainfall resulted in several vehicles being stranded and subsequent evacuations near CVS along Pittsburgh Road in Uniontown as well as flooding along Morgantown Street near Ben Franklin School.
And rainfall amounts easily exceeded four inches in the hardest-hit area in and around the city on a Sunday evening this July, resulting in more flooded basements, more disabled vehicles, more trees down and more emergency rescues for a community growing accustomed to being ravaged by floodwaters.
“(There’s been) an excessive amount of rainfall,” City Clerk Kim Marshall said.
Uniontown officials hope a public forum this week helps lead to some relief.
The city will hold a public forum to present a Hydrologic Engineering Center River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) base model Tuesday at 5 p.m. at City Hall, at which the city’s engineering firm, K2 Engineering, will identify specific issues within the study area deemed important to those suffering the greatest impact from flooding.
Powered by a $162,000 state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) grant awarded in Nov. 2017, the computer-generated study has been designed to focus on the hydrology and hydraulics associated with flooding along Coal Lick Run and Redstone Creek and provide flood mitigation recommendations.
Attendees will be given questionnaires and asked to submit data on flooding-related costs that citizens have incurred.
“We want people to be educated by the study and hear some of their feedback to come up with the best possible plan within the City of Uniontown,” Uniontown Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Mark Rafail said.
A final report based primarily on the HEC-RAS study will be developed to address land use, rainfall, stream restrictions, cost tables and mapping.