What if your street flooded because drains were clogged?

WHAT IF YOUR STREET FLOODED BECAUSE DRAINS WERE CLOGGED?

Honestly, I get why people want to jump in and fix it themselves, but I’ve learned the hard way that there’s a limit to what you can do as a homeowner. Like you said,

“Clearing the grate with a shovel or your boot is about as much as you can do safely.”

I’ve had our street flood a couple times—one time it was so bad that water got up onto my driveway and almost into the garage. Super stressful, especially since insurance doesn’t always cover outside water like that. What I do now is just check the drains before any big storm. Takes five minutes to clear leaves and trash off the top. Not perfect, but it helps.

Calling the city is always a gamble, and I totally get the frustration when they don’t show up. I’ve left messages and never heard back more than once. Still, if water’s backing up toward houses, I’d keep calling until someone picks up. Documenting with photos seems to help get attention sometimes, at least in my town.

I wish there was a more affordable DIY solution for this stuff, but between liability and equipment costs, it’s really not practical for regular folks. If you’re worried about recurring issues, maybe talk to neighbors about keeping an eye on the drains together. More eyes means less chance of missing a problem before it gets out of hand.

At the end of the day, prevention is about all we can control unless the city steps up. It’s not ideal, but that’s where we’re at right now.

“Clearing the grate with a shovel or your boot is about as much as you can do safely.”

Yeah, that’s pretty much my limit too. I tried to clear more than just the top once—ended up splashing muddy water all over myself and didn’t even make a dent. It’s wild how fast things can go from “just a puddle” to “lake in the driveway.” You’re right about getting neighbors involved... we started texting each other before storms, and it actually helped us catch stuff early. Makes me wonder why cities don’t have some kind of volunteer program for this. Feels like a missed opportunity.

Honestly, I tried to go a bit deeper once, thinking I could clear out more gunk. Ended up with a soaked boot and a bunch of leaves still stuck down there. It’s tricky—those grates are heavier than they look, and you never know what’s underneath. I get why the city doesn’t want folks messing around too much, but yeah, some kind of organized effort would make sense. Just wish there was a safer way to actually get the drains working before it turns into a mess.

- Ran into the same mess last fall—figured I’d just lift the grate and clear it out myself.
- Turns out, even with a pry bar, those things barely budge. Got halfway in and realized I had no idea what I was reaching into...
- Ended up with muddy jeans and not much progress.
- Honestly, I get why they don’t want residents poking around. There’s probably more risk than we think—sharp debris, or worse.
- Wouldn’t hurt if the city did a pre-storm sweep or something, though. It’s wild how fast those leaves pile up.
- Next time, I’m sticking to raking near the curb and leaving the heavy lifting to the pros.

I get the safety concerns, but honestly, if we all just waited for the city to do a sweep, half the drains would stay clogged until spring. I’ve pried up a grate or two myself—yeah, it’s a pain, but sometimes you gotta just clear off the top layer of leaves and junk. As long as you’re not reaching in blind or messing with anything heavy-duty, it’s usually fine. I’d rather risk muddy jeans than have my basement flood again... just saying.