Residents in Mauriceville said if drainage improvements do not prevent future flooding, they will not be able to afford insurance to continue living in the community.
An estimated 250 people gathered in the Top Deck warehouse Monday to discuss the flooding problems after Imelda days earlier.
Don Cororna, general manager of the Orange County Drainage District, State Representative Dade Phelan, and County Judge John Gothia talked about getting federal grants for regional plans to help drain water from the two major river basins in the county.
The owner of Horizons Dance Studio Cheri Billiot said her business now has flooded twice, during Imelda and in Harvey two years ago. She said her flood insurance is going to triple and she will not be able to afford $12,000 a year for the special insurance.
Another resident said he had four feet of water in his house during Harvey and two feet in Imelda. Flood insurance did not cover all his expenses. “At this point, I can’t afford to rebuild,” he said.
He has flood insurance, but he cannot get outside help because if someone has flood insurance, they are rejected from help, he said.
People in the Greenwood Acres complained about not having their ditches and culverts cleaned.
Some criticized the raised railroad tracks blocking drainage, especially at a water crossing.
One man said the railroad trestle had trees and timber caught in it. “”it was a cotton-pickin’ dam,” he said.
He added that someone years ago talked about dynamiting the tracks and maybe they should have.
Corona said the drainage district maintains 600 miles of ditches in the county. Cities maintain street ditches in their jurisdiction and the county maintains ditches in non-incorporated areas not assigned to the drainage district.
The Texas Department of Transportation has responsibility for drainage along state highways and farm to market roads.
Corona said the drainage district wants to work with TxDOT and the railroad company. He said railroad companies, which operate under federal rules, are hard to work with.
Gothia told the group the county has plans to clean out ditches and culverts in the Greenwood Acres area, but has not received federal grant money for the project.
He and the other officials talked about money for the projects. Phelan sponsored a successful bill during the past legislative session that allocated state money for flood-prevention projects. He said it is the first time the state has dealt with flood prevention.
Phelan and the others are asking voters to approve a state constitutional amendment in November to make the financing permanent. Proposition 8, if approved, will create the Flood Infrastructure Fund to provide more than $1 billion from the state’s “rainy day funds” reserves.
He said if voters do not approve the proposition, a future Texas Legislature could take the money from flood prevention and give it to other state functions.
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
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