CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Flour Bluff resident is raising concerns that a city drainage project on Caribbean Drive could lead to flooding on her property during storms.
Mary Lou Roper, a Flour Bluff resident who has lived on Caribbean Drive for nearly 20 years, believes the project’s design will direct water toward her land.
Flour Bluff resident fears adjacent drainage project will flood her property
“If anybody’s done any basic math and physics in general school you can understand if you lower the path of resistance you are going to move water,” Roper said.
The city’s drainage project on Caribbean includes raising the road and installing large culverts, which Roper fears will create flooding issues for her property.
Tony Jaramillo
“Right now my property is protected a little bit by that road and by lowering that road and increasing the drainage you know there’s no doubt that during huge storms I’m going to get massive water over my driveway,” Roper said.
According to Roper, the problem began when the city completed a project draining water from neighboring developments into three connected bodies of water, with her lake being the final destination.
“Draining into those lakes, which will ultimately drain into our lake, lowering all the resistance to flow, they will flood our property,” Roper said.
The city has responded to these concerns in a statement, saying their engineers have determined the project will not cause additional flooding, based on a detailed hydraulic analysis. However, Roper remains unconvinced.
“This lake has dried up many times in the past. It has not been dried in the last three years since they’ve done those projects. I don’t foresee it ever drying up again,” Roper said.
As an anesthesiologist who is sometimes on call, Roper worries about being able to reach her workplace during potential storms.
“But this is going to put me in a situation where I may or may not be able to get to work,” Roper said.
Roper says she has attempted to collaborate with the city on drainage solutions without success.
“We have definitely offered to work with the city to try to create an egress and an outflow. I’m a taxpayer. I’m a contributing part of the community and I’d like to just have a solution,” Roper said.
With hurricane season underway, Roper plans to monitor the project closely once it’s completed.
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