Petersburg still under state of emergency after July flooding, officials to meet with USACE this month

PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) — After flooding ripped through the City of Petersburg in July, local leaders and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will meet this month to address the high flooding risk.

Petersburg Mayor Samuel Parham said the Appomattox River has been "neglected." The site visit is to evaluate the next steps on dredging the river.

A state of emergency was issued in July following the flooding, and is still in place as of Monday, Sept. 1.

Mayor Parham said that the neglected Appomattox River was to blame for how badly the city flooded in July, as it had not been dredged properly in decades. Until excess silt has been removed, Parham warned that Petersburg’s flooding risk would remain high.

“For decades now, shall I say over 50 years, we have been asking the Corps of Engineers to do the proper dredging that needs to be done,” Parham said during a press conference the day after the flooding.

Severe flooding in Petersburg on Sunday, July 13. (Petersburg Fire and EMS)

Flooding around a Petersburg home following severe storms the week of Sunday, July 13. (Photo: Danielle Graves)

Flooding in Petersburg on July 14. (Photo: Shanita Prosise)

Flooding in Petersburg on July 14. (Photo: Shanita Prosise)

Corps officials disagreed with city leaders' portrayal saying Petersburg has to request aid and that the city has to provide the land where they want the dredging done. Until that happens, the Corps can't come up with a cost estimate, timeline or work on any of it.

“It was really up to the city to offer, you know, to identify and offer an area for the containment of the dredging material before we could start any of the evaluation process," said civil engineer for the USACE, Stephen Powell.

While Mayor Parham said they'd been trying to work with the Corps for decades, the Corps pushed back.

“It’s really on both sides to work together and it has been a while,” said USACE Norfolk District’s Chief of Water Resources Keith Lockwood in a previous interview with 8News. “We would like to reach out to the City of Petersburg. They have not reached out to us recently.”

8News asked the city for records of any communication between the city and the Corps but did not hear back.