Mayor Gray announced that he was establishing a flood prevention task force that will study the causes of, and short- and medium-term solutions to, frequent street flooding and sewer backups in the Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park neighborhoods. In early July the area was inundated with flood waters three times, resulting in damage to dozens of homes and businesses.

“Residents of the Bloomingdale and LeDroit Park neighborhoods deserve to enjoy a high quality of life and should not have to bear a disproportionately negative impact because of an aging infrastructure,” Mayor Gray said. “Just as I have done in asking a task force to look at solutions to frequent power outages, I am now asking officials, utility representatives and residents to work together to address the flooding and sewer back up issues that happen all too often in these neighborhoods While DC Water has already been working on long-term solutions, this panel will help us bring about short- and medium-term mitigation strategies.” Read more.