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COLUMBIA - The Columbia Fire Department was called Friday morning to the Daniel Boone City Building at 701 E. Broadway in response to flooding in the building's basement. Several inches of water were found in an equipment room that houses telephone servers, said Toni Messina, director of communications for the City of Columbia.
Four Columbia fire trucks pumped the water out of the building, and trucks from St. Louis have been called in preparation for tonight's rain, said fire department Battalion Chief Gary Warren Jr.
Firefighters drained the construction site next to the building and brought in about 2,000 sandbags to prevent future flooding. Fire crews completed the sandbag wall around 2:30 p.m.
Messina said the water came in from the construction site next to the Boone Building. The construction created a ditch which collected rain water, and runoff from the storms seeped into the equipment room. Messina said there does not seem to be any damage to telephones or any other equipment, which only appears to be damp.
The construction site was "not prepared" for the recent rainfall in the area, Messina said. In a similar situation two weeks ago, the Boone Building's basement experienced mild flooding. The power was shut off for a short period of time to ensure there was no lasting water damage.
The fire department will continue to monitor the area this weekend because more rainfall is expected, Messina said. Over the next few days, pumps will be kept at the construction site, continuing to clear the area of water.
Despite the recent rainfall, Messina said construction workers are "making good progress" on the new addition to the Boone Building. Messina said once construction gets further along, excess runoff should no longer be a problem.
No injuries were reported.
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