Large amounts of rain water over the past several days resulted in the overflowing of several manholes in town this week, and Tuesday afternoon city workers were still on the scene working to squelch the problem.

Kenny Smith, waste water supervisor for Atmore Utilities Department, said the heavy rains caused a discharge of raw sewage through manholes at the intersection of Wilson Avenue and Ridgeley Street, as well as a manhole on Martin Luther King Avenue early this week.

Smith said city workers were out alerting residents they should avoid any contact with the spilled sewage until the problem has been rectified, which he added should be soon.

“Actually, the one on MLK has stopped overflowing,” Smith said Tuesday. “And I project the one on Wilson will probably done by tonight, but there is no guarantee.”

Smith said work has been done over the last several months to the site at Wilson Avenue, which he hopes will correct the problem

“We just got done spending approximately $450,000 through a CDBG (Community Block Development Grant) and matching money,” Smith said. “Everything flows this way, so we don’t know if it is because everything gets backed up and it’s just the first spot you see, but we’re hoping the work will fix the problem.

Smith said another grant is being applied for in hopes of correcting the problem on Martin Luther King Avenue as well.

“We’re going ahead with the process to apply for another CDBG grant that will be relevant to the one on MLK,” Smith said. “The process takes about a year.”