MERIDEN — Heavy rainfall early Wednesday morning caused flooding in several areas in Meriden, primarily along Pratt Street and Liberty Street, city officials said. No damage was reported. 

Routine cleanup crews have visited the most affected areas to clean up sediment deposited by the stagnant water, according to city officials. 

There were dramatic photos posted online of higher flooding along Pratt Street. However, city officials say that the intention of the ongoing Harbor Brook remediation project is to keep incidents of flooding concentrated around those areas closer to the green as they continue to widen the brook and reduce flooding in the downtown area. 

With Hurricane Lee expected to brush close to the East Coast, while not expected to make landfall near Connecticut in forecasts early Wednesday evening, it is possible that heavy rains could fall on the area over Friday and Saturday. This could cause even more flooding across the Meriden region. City engineers are monitoring the weather, but presently aren’t putting many measures in place outside of the routine storm watch. 

In anticipation of the potential storms, Director of Public Works John Lawlor encouraged residents to do their part in helping mitigate flooding by clearing any trash they see blocking drains and culverts. 

“If there's a catch basin in or around your property, please be sure that you do assist us if you can, and make sure that there's nothing covering the tops of those basins, because a small amount of material on top of a catch basin can cause some pretty significant flooding issues in a pretty quick period of time,” Lawlor said. “So we'd appreciate any help folks could do to make sure that the basins are clear. Or if there's a brook behind your house, make sure there's no brush deposited in those brooks that could potentially cause downstream flooding of neighbors.”