With $9 million in damage, more than 50 homes hit and dozens of cars swamped, St. Charles County is still recovering from the recent flash flooding. County Executive Steve Ehlmann says the day that 9-inches of rain fell was off the charts.
"That instant last week, I'm not sure we ever could have engineered to deal with that," Ehlmann said. "If we're going to protect against that, we're going to have to develop a lot further from creeks and streams and put in storm sewers that are a lot bigger than anything we've ever dreamed of in the past."
The county is now looking for new ways to pay for storm water improvements. Ehlmann said the problem with their current system is that it favors towns that collect a lot of sales tax for retail, but does little to help isolated farms in flood plains.
"Storm water ought to be dealt with on the basis of a watershed," he said. "So you ought to have a watershed and everyone within that watershed works together and pays into the pot, and so forth. "
More than 50 homes were damaged in St. Charles County after historic floods hit the region.