WET WEATHER: Thompson deals with seepage, flooding

The pumps that were supposed to keep water out of the DeMoe family’s basement couldn’t keep up with the heavy rains last Saturday.

The Thompson area, according to some residents, received up to 2 inches of rain Saturday.

Since then, the DeMoes have been struggling to pump the water out of their flooded basement at the corner of Dakota Avenue and Second Street.

“We used two pumps to remove the water entirely Saturday night,” Deb DeMoe said. “On Sunday we still had at least 3 inches of water left in the basement.”

The basement was finished and the DeMoes had a bedroom in the lower level.

“We tried our best to remove a lot of stuff, but the water damaged a number of things including furniture and carpet,” said DeMoe, who attended the Thompson City Council meeting Monday night, to lodge a protest.

Several other frustrated Thompson residents joined her.

“This is the fourth time that water has entered my basement,” said DeMoe, who has lived in Thompson for eight years. “But this is the worst.”

The heavy rains impacted about 15 percent to 25 percent of Thompson homeowners.

“This is really a tough time for us,” said Mayor Dean Larimer, before the meeting started. “We are doing our best,” Larimer said.

The three pumps that were installed at three strategic locations in the city since Monday morning had removed as much as 50,000 gallons of water by evening.

“These are likely to run the entire night,” he said.

The problem, according to Larimer, is that the city doesn’t have a proper drainage system.

Larimer is urging city residents not to waste water for the next few days by taking showers three times a day or doing laundry.

At Monday’s meeting, the council members and nearly a dozen residents discussed the city’s drainage problem and possible solutions.

After about 90 minutes of debate, during which the residents at times expressed their anguish over the state of affairs, the city council decided to work towards developing a drainage plan for Thompson as a long-term solution.

In the short-term, the council decided to work on measures to ensure that rainwater doesn’t enter residents homes, urging individual homeowners to dig out the culverts.

As the residents left the meeting, many of them expressed their satisfaction over the steps initiated.

“They are moving in the right direction,” said DeMoe, who attended a city council meeting for the first time in about eight years.