The unexpected amount of snow that covered the streets of Ballard this holiday season left many storm drains congested along Market Street and Ballard Avenue. This back up caused snow-and-ice filled streets to flood.

Rudy McCoy, manager of the Ballard/Fremont Clean Streets program, believes at times like these the community should not rely solely on the city to do the dirty work but should take cleaning matters into their own hands.

Ballard/Fremont Clean Streets program is a number of small businesses from 85th Street going into Gasworks that take responsibility in keeping a clean and healthy environment for all. Volunteers go out and participate in cleaning the Burk Gilman trail and streets in between.

"To say what went wrong or right, I would say there were not enough men out there to help do the job when we really needed them the most," he said. "I think too many people depend on the city during a crisis when we all really need to just work together."

Doing his part, McCoy cleared out about 100 storm drains between 85th Street and Gasworks Park.

"There is a high usage of bus stops and crosswalks and I tried to slow down the snow from getting to the drains," McCoy said.

As McCoy and a few volunteers tried their best to clear as many storm drains as they could to prevent any major flooding, the city did the best that they could in responding as soon as possible to major back ups, McCoy said.

"Through Christmas there was standing water on Ballard Avenue due to drains not being cleared," said McCoy. "I called into the city and told Seattle Public Utilities that there were drainage problems. I think they did a good job in terms of responding to our neighborhood. They couldn't respond to everybody but I think when you called them they were positive."

Cornell Amaya, external communications public information officer for Seattle Public Utilities, said another thing that helped prevent flooding was asking people in the fall to clear storm drains.

Because of this, Seattle Utilities saw a significant drop in calls for flooding this season.

"We had thousands of these drains so there's no way to clear them if they're clogged up in neighborhoods," said Amaya. "So by people raking them themselves and maintaining them, it has and can help us out a lot," said Amaya.

Amaya said neighborhood residents could also help prevent their communities from flooding by joining the Adopt-A-Drain program.

In a program similar to and running as a complimentary part of, the city's Adopt-A-Street program, residents and groups are encouraged to adopt specific storm drains and are responsible in making a commitment for clearing any debris and performing certain activities for keeping the neighborhood drains free from leaf matting, to help prevent flooding and to improve water quality within the city's watersheds.

If you have a clogged storm drain or know of any that should be reported call Seattle Public Utilities at 386-1800 or to learn more about the Adopt-A-Drain program visit http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Drainage_&_Sewer/Keep_Water_Safe_&_Clean/AdoptADrain/index.htm.