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City and insurance agents weigh in on Friday's historic storm

Posted at 5:43 PM, Aug 29, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-29 19:47:36-04

Flooding rains pounded the metro over the weekend, and the National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency.

A rainy Friday night in Westport turned dangerous as streets flooded, submerging cars and stranding partiers.

It took all weekend to clean up the mess.

On Monday insurance agents like Debbie Baker Krough were busy taking calls for claims.

"We don't see high water in the street as often as we've had this last weekend," Krough said.

If your car was damaged by the floodwaters, Krough has some advice.

"If it's buried in water, we don't want to get it into the engine and it could possibly cause more damage, or don't open the doors if it's up to the doors. Don't let the water inside cause that obviously exaggerates the damage as well," she said.

Unsure if you need flood coverage? Floodsmart.gov analyzes your risk. It also gives you the average cost of a premium: https://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/

Friday's historic storm dumped 4.56 inches of rain in just over an hour.

RELATED | VIDEO: Flash flooding throughout KC metro

The KCMO Water Department said modern-day infrastructure isn't designed to handle that much water.

"When we've had that much rain, it's going to overwhelm just about every storm sewer system that there is," Terry Leeds, KCMO Water Director, said.

The sewer system is currently undergoing a 25-year upgrade at the cost of $5 billion.

But the water director said more is needed.

"Unfortunately what it takes to expand the capacity is funding, and that funding has not been forthcoming so there's only much you can do without funding," Leeds said.

One way the public can help is through support of Public Improvements Advisory Committee (PIAC) funding.

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Andres Gutierrez can be reached at andres.gutierrez@kshb.com

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