GRANDVIEW, Mo. — Flooding concerns are on the rise for people across the Kansas City metro area.
The City of Grandview usually sees flooding when there's a lot of rain in the forecast. The Grandview Public Works Department said there's not much they can do to stop any water from flowing in a certain direction.
"My job is to watch weather all of the time," Dennis Randolph, Grandview's Public Works director, said.
With recent wet weather, the city is doing what it can to prepare for the forecast.
"We're just watching the rivers and making sure that things are as good as they can be," Randolph said.
The Blue River is still several feet away from flood stage, but in 2017 that wasn't the case. In a matter of weeks, homes on Merrywood Circle flooded more than once.
"In a short period of time, in about a month, we had about 15, 16 inches of rain," Randolph said.
Randolph said homes near the Merrywood Bridge are in a problem area.
"The water just needs some place to go and it goes to the low ground and there's not a lot we can do about it," he said.
Tuesday, the ground was saturated and flooding was top of mind. After 2017, the city is in the process of printing 3D maps of the entire city. Randolph said the maps will help people living in the area get a better understanding of where the water is running an why. They will also help the city make future development decisions.
"We also have a lot of space in the city that we hope is going to have new folks come and live and we want to make sure especially for them that we don't make the same mistakes," Randolph said.
The 3D maps should be completed by the end of the year.
