Millions in federal funding set to plug up flooding issues in Calhoun City

CALHOUN CITY (WCBI) – Calhoun City is set to receive a staggering ten million dollars in funding to put handle flooding issues in the city.

The town is gearing up for a transformative project, known as the Yalabooaha river project.

$10 million in federal funding is set to plug up a recurring flood in Calhoun City. A recurring issue with devastating consequences in the city.

The impact of the floods hit close to home for Calhoun City Mayor Marshall W. Coleman.

“It meant the world to me to help the citizens. While helping the citizens, I would be helping me and my family,” said Coleman.

His own home has been impacted by water damage due to flooding.

“It was almost like the levee that broke in Louisiana a few years back. Five and a half to six feet of water were in our backyard,” stated Coleman, highlighting the urgency of the situation. “Right now, if you go out south of town, you look at the Yalobusha River coming up under the highway, it’s almost sitting leveled all the time because it can’t drain back to Grenada Lake.”

He acknowledged previous attempts to address the flooding issues but emphasized that they only served as only a band-aid.

However, this time, the federal government has committed to offer a permanent fix.

Sheila Freely, the Executive Director of the Calhoun Economic Development Association, said that the project has been in the works for years, hoping to give Calhoun citizens relief on the higher ground.

“It’s been a lot of hard work out into this for the last ten to fifteen years. And it is absolutely awesome because it was affecting our citizens, our school transportation, our roads, everything, and certainly our farmers and it’s an awesome feeling. We’re very excited,” said Freely.

Freely said clearing all obstructions in the river is key to making this project a success.

“It’s actually to dredge hopefully the western portion of the river that flows into Grenada Lake because obviously once the debris and logs start to jam, then it stops the water flow so hopefully by dredging the river on into Grenada Lake, it will allow the water from the eastern portion of the river to drain on in there,” said Freely.

The project is expected to begin before the year’s end.

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