A serious concern in the High Country is the potential of flash flooding.
Fortunately, the Boone Town Council recently considered the formation of the Storm Water Management Task Force that would look to curtail flooding on the U.S. 321 corridor following the recommendation of Councilman Rennie Brantz on Oct. 17, according to the Watauga Democrat.
The council said they would like to hear from other staff before forming a task force, an understandable decision.
Mayor Pro-Tem Jamie Leigh told the High Country Press that a good place to start will be with creating a base layer of information from technical people involved with storm water and bringing that information to the town in a public hearing.
This is a promising development for the safety of Boone residents.
Hopefully, a task force would also help control some other problem areas in Boone.
Flooding has proven to be an issue in cases such as the Jan. 30 flash flood that washed out and closed multiple local roads, according to the High Country Press.
That was not the first flood Boone has faced in the past few years, either.
In 2010, a 7-year-old boy drowned behind the Red Carpet Inn after a culvert, hidden due to a flood, pulled the boy into Kraut Creek, according to the High Country Press.
Deaths are a horrifyingly real possibility in a flooding event.
Roads also become very dangerous in times of flooding. During the Jan. 30 floods, Fairway Drive, Bamboo Road, Deerfield Road and Dewitt Barnett Road were among the many deemed unsafe for driving.
The town council should vote to form the task force. Making sure Boone is up to the parameters of storm water safety code is also ultimately important.
“Town Council will have to go back and look at the last water study, review the parameters of the law and how the town meets the legal requirements,” Town Manager Greg Young told the High Country Press.
There is no such thing as being too careful when preventing a repeat of events.
Boone comes with the possibility of heavy precipitation.
A change needs to happen, and it seems things are finally trending in that direction.
The steps Boone is taking seem to be small and slow, but nevertheless, should ultimately be praised.
Opinion: JUWAN WILFONG, Opinion writer