Fallen leaves can block storm drains and lead to ponding and localized flooding in your neighborhood. You can help prevent this from happening by raking leaves and keeping them out of your street and storm drains. Here are some tips about what to do with your leaves:
Avoid raking leaves near the street where they can wash or get blown into nearby storm drains.
Watch for traffic when clearing leaves out of storm drains. Work from the curb, not in the street, and make sure an adult supervises any children who are helping.
Turn your leaves into beneficial compost. Autumn leaves are a great source of high-carbon material for your compost pile. Alternate layers of shredded leaves with the other materials you normally add to your compost pile (scraps from fruits and veggies, grass clippings, weeds, etc.) and let it sit over the winter. Whenever you think about it, aerate or turn the pile. Your compost will be ready to use by spring.
Shred leaves and use them as mulch on vegetable gardens and flower beds, around trees and shrubs, and in containers. Just add a 2" to 3" layer of shredded leaves to the beds, keeping the mulch from directly touching the stems and trunks of the plants. The mulch retains moisture in the soil, stays cool, and limits weed seed germination.
Use a mulching mower to shred your leaves once a week until they have all fallen, then "leave" them on your yard. While the leaves break down during winter, they'll shade your soil and provide it with nutrients, which means fewer weeds to deal with in spring.
Hoard them! Save a bag or two of leaves in your garage over the winter. In spring, adding that brown material to your compost pile makes your compost just right for the season.
Make sure any landscaping companies hired by your Home Owners Association refrain from blowing leaves into the street.
Help out your whole neighborhood by joining the Adopt-A-Drain program by agreeing to keep at least four nearby storm drains clear during the rainy season.
Raking not doing the trick? Please report clogged storm drains and flooding to 425-488-0118 or www.bothellwa.gov/car. If the flooding is an emergency, call 911.
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Stay safe in a flood
Because of how much rainfall we get in the Pacific Northwest, flooding is a common regional problem. If your home floods, prepare ahead of time to reduce damage and keep your family safe:
Flooded roadway
Store household chemicals at higher elevations to keep them out of flood waters, especially in garages, sheds, and basements.
Make sure any underground storage tanks are fully sealed and secure.
Have a plan and make an emergency kit.
Have check valves installed in building sewer traps to prevent flood waters from backing up in sewer drains.
Stay out of floodwaters, as they contain many things that may harm health.