In his more than 40 years with the Birmingham office of the National Weather Service, hydrologist Roger McNeil has come to memorize those spots in Jefferson County where you can count on flooding whenever the metro area gets a heavy dose of rain.

As Alabama this week once again dealt with the aftermath of severe flooding, some Birmingham area municipalities’ investments in flood prevention have paid off. Others have been waiting years for help.

Here’s what cities have done – or can do – to alleviate flooding along what McNeil said are the area’s most flood-prone creeks:

Portion of Pratt-Ensley area converted to a vast lake in 1961. Scores of families flee homes as Village Creek overflows.

Village Creek in Birmingham, stretching from East Lake and the airport to Ensley. According to the website for , stretching from East Lake and the airport to Ensley. According to the website for the Village Creek Society , to improve flood conditions along the 44-mile long watershed, the city of Birmingham should undertake two projects -- one replacing two 1920s-era bridges and another building retaining walls -- that would cost roughly $3.5 million. Jefferson County should undertake a $4.8 million project to relocate sewer lines, the society’s website states.

Yohance Owens, the society’s executive director, said the organization is partnering with the city of Birmingham in seeking federal grants to prevent flooding. The area around the creek is in a flood zone, he said, which means no property can be built there. Flooding is mostly experienced around the airport and in East Thomas.

In the interim, Owens said, the group along with the city and Jefferson County hold an annual clean-up to clear debris from the creek.

“Does it flood like it used to? No, but we still have considerable flooding,” he said. "We have outdated sewer lines, we still have trash that still flows, but it’s not as bad as it used to be.”

The boat appearing ready for launch, was parked in it's owners yard just behind Cheyenne Drive in Huffman in 1972. Overflow from Five Mile Creek created this situation.

Five Mile Creek in the Ketona-Tarrant area, including a bridge stretching across Alabama 79 that was completely submerged in a 2003 flood. Unfortunately, the area has still not received federal funding it was approved for in 2014, according to Tarrant Mayor Luxcil Tuck.

The city requested $4 million from FEMA six years ago to help with flooding from the creek. While those funds have still not been sent to Tarrant, the city requested and was approved for an additional $5 million for the grant.

“When you hear that the wheels of bureaucracy turn slow, you can believe it,” Tuck said. “We hope to get started before this year’s up on that, and it will hold flood waters off of our businesses.”

Luckily, Tuck said, the city has not experienced major flooding from the recent storms.

A church bus makes its way through flood waters near the Vestavia Hills bowling alley in 2000.bn

Patton Creek in Vestavia Hills, a “notorious” spot for flooding from the city bowling lanes, stretching along U.S. 31 to where the highway meets Interstate 65. While residences are largely out of harm’s way, flooding is a major concern for businesses along the thoroughfare. “Some businesses on [Highway] 31 – actually located in the floodplain – have to carry separate insurance policies,” said Cinnamon McCauley, a spokeswoman for the city.

Patton Creek is owned by a private property owner, McCauley said, and any changes to the creek bed has to come from the Army Corps of Engineers. The corps could not be reached for comment.

Jefferson County is responsible for the creek’s culverts where it runs under Columbiana Road, while the state Department of Transportation is responsible where the creek runs by the interstate, toward Hoover.

The Vestavia Park Apartments alongside Highway 31 has experienced flooding in its parking lot, McCauley said, but water does not get into any units.

Shades Creek out of its banks near Lakeshore Drive in Homewood. The creek flooded the Crescent at Lakeshore Apartments swamping cars. Several needed to be rescued from the rising water. (Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com).Joe Songer | jsonger@al.com

Shades Creek in Homewood, including an area where the residents of Crescent at Lakeshore Apartments were recently forced to flee because of rising water. The city of Homewood maintains a monitoring station along the creek to alert officials when residents need to be evacuated because of rising waters, said J.J. Bischoff, the chief of staff for Homewood.

There are no options for permanently addressing the problem of flooding along Shades Creek, Bischoff said.

“There’s not anything I know of that can be done to change that,” Bischoff said.

Flooding at mill in Mountain Brook in 1970.

Watkins Brook – the small stream near Mountain Brook Village – had long been the cause of Mountain Brook’s flooding woes going back decades. But a 2014 project between the city and the developer before the property was redeveloped stopped major flooding, according to Dana Hazen, director of planning, building and sustainability for the city. “I don’t think we’ve had problems since,” Hazen said. “That was just historically a bad problem. That was probably the worst place we had damage.”

Glenn Merchant, building official for Mountain Brook, said two retention ponds help store extra water. Three culverts were installed to aid flooding and lower the area’s elevation.

Emerald Avenue and Vista Lane pic.twitter.com/ilpKrRHjh2 — Hueytown Police (@HueytownPD) February 10, 2020

Valley Creek in Bessemer and Hueytown. For about 18 months, there have been public meetings to discuss ways to address flooding along Valley Creek, according to Jefferson County Commission president Jimmie Stephens. Options include buying out homeowners and turning the properties into greenways or dredging the creek or a combination of both. “Right now, we’re waiting to get the results of those meetings and from there we’ll move forward,” Stephens said.

What are some other flood-prone spots in the Birmingham area you think need to be addressed? Let us know in the comments section.