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Alexandria Sheriff Dana Lawhorne joined his neighbors in criticizing City Council’s plan to double the stormwater utility fee, and asked at last night’s meeting that the matter be deferred to give the community more time.

Lawhorne, who lives in Del Ray, said that his home flooded multiple times last year and is frustrated with what he called a lack of progress to solve the problem. A number of heavy rainstorms in 2020 resulted in dangerous flooding situations, revealing a besieged stormwater management system that left many homes damaged throughout the city. There were more than 500 requests for service through the City’s 311 system due to extreme rain events this year, according to a city memo.

Alexandria’s LaMonica Johnston says that the life of her infant son was put at risk when her home was flooded on July 8.

Johnston just put her son down in his Pack ‘N Play and was laying down on her couch when water rushed into her home, located near the Hooff’s Run Culvert, a large tunnel that has some of the worst stormwater management issues in the city and handles runoff from the Del Ray, Rosemont, Beverly Hills and Northridge neighborhoods.