City of Vicksburg sewer department workers Jesse Holman, left, and Calvin Johnson work to remove mud and debris from one of the culverts passing under Evergreen Drive through Glass Bayou Thursday.(C. Todd Sherman The Vicksburg Post)

[6/6/03]Rains in Vicksburg have sometimes been so heavy that David Neal has not been able to get to his job at International Paper but the city board Thursday took the first step to help his situation.

“If I don’t get out of here when it first starts, I’m stuck.” said Neal, who lives on Evergreen Drive, a city street near Cedar Hill Cemetery that is one of the many that hold water because of clogged bayous. “If we get a good rain you’re just going to sit it out unless you’ve got a boat with a motor.”

Evergreen, where Neal lives with his wife and two children, is near Glass Bayou, which runs through the northern part of the city and empties into the Mississippi River.

In April, when one of many damaging storms dumped more than 8 inches of rain in less than 24 hours, part of Evergreen Drive washed away.

City officials Thursday began the paperwork to ask the federal government for funds to help repair three sites damaged from the storms one is Glass Bayou, part of which runs near the Evergreen Drive area to the Mississippi River and the other two are Durden Creek and Stouts Bayou. After repairs, modifications will be made to the affected areas so the April events will not be repeated when another downpour comes.

Stouts Bayou runs north and south from near South Street and into Hatcher Bayou near the southern limits of the city. Durden Creek runs through Waterways Experiment Station to Hatcher Bayou.

Joe Canizaro is a Vicksburg resident who owns property that was damaged by rainwater overflowing from Stouts Bayou.

He and his wife have lived in their Vicklan Street home for 50 years, but he said the damage from the storms this year is unlike any he’s seen before.

Water tore away paving and stone that Canizaro had placed along the bayou in order to prevent a washout.

North Ward Alderman Gertrude Young said Evergreen Street is the most dangerous of the three sites.

“People are taking a chance when they drive in that area,” she said. “It’s hazardous to drive over because only half of the street is there now.”

Charles Curtis, district conservationist for Warren County, said repairs for the bayous and the creek will cost about $365,000.

The listing of sites needing work was first approved by a team of engineers and Natural Resource Conservation Services officials and sent to the state conservationist, Homer Wilkes, who makes the request for funding from the federal government.

If the grant is approved, the federal agency will pay 85 percent of the cost and the city will pay for 15 percent of the repairs at Stout and Glass bayous.

The Vicksburg Country Club will cover the 15 percent at Durden Creek, which crosses the grounds off Porters Chapel Road, Young said.

Repairs at the bayous will be made by refilling the areas with rock and rebuilding the areas, Curtis said. Young said once repairs are made, the city will be responsible for maintenance.