Heavy rains caused flooding on Wednesday, but in an unusual location.
Rolls of paper in a storage area at Tribune Publishing Co. were damaged when water backed up from floor drains, essentially creating geysers. On-site employees conservatively estimated that more than $60,000 worth of paper was damaged.
The outflow geysers struck between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, as Columbia was virtually overnight and torrential rains fell.
Although it was pouring with rain, the University of Missouri weather stations at Sanborn Field in East Camps and at the Bradford Research Farm southeast of Columbia each recorded between 35.5 and 41.1 mm of precipitation from midnight to about noon Wednesday.
Tribune Publishing’s printing plant staff immediately called the city to determine if it was stormwater or possibly a backup from the city’s sewer lines. There was no sewage odor in that part of the printing plant building as staff worked to divert the accumulated water into a floor drain.
Columbia Utilities officials said they have not received any other calls about sewer backups or severe weather in the immediate area. Tribune Publishing officials said backups had occurred before last summer, when there was a similar, though perhaps not as severe, downpour.
Public utility workers were instructed to conduct separate dye tests in toilets and in a drain where water was pooling to check whether sewer lines fed into storm drains. Tests showed that sewer and storm drains were separate.
Tribune Publishing continues to investigate the incident.
