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Clogged ditches, flooding streets in Walker subdivision creating problems

7 years 3 months 2 weeks ago Monday, January 02 2017 Jan 2, 2017 January 02, 2017 10:52 PM January 02, 2017 in News
Source: WBRZ

WALKER - With every rain fall comes a looming problem for residents living in Suburban Acres. Water overflows the banks of ditches and floods streets and front yards.

"Anytime we get rain," said Kathie Chambers.

While the ditches fill with water, some are clogged with debris. After getting four feet of water in her home last August, Chambers says she's tired of the risk.

"We can't worry every time it rains," she said.

She worried over the weekend, when she woke up and saw the same thing she always sees after it rains: water covering the roads and creeping up toward homes and FEMA Manufactured Housing Units. Often, she's stranded in her own home.

Chambers says her husband recently had knee replacement surgery and the flooding creates obstacles for him.

"The nurse nor the therapist could get in yesterday," she said.

The thought of having a medical emergency during a heavy rain event is scary.

"If it had a better way to drain, though, we wouldn't have this problem," she said.

The Department of Public Works tells 2 On Your Side drainage piping needs to be replaced and the culverts are too small in some locations. But it's not up to the parish to fix this, instead it's the individual homeowner who is in charge of repairing the culverts. The Department of Public Works also says many homeowners don't want to go through the expense.

Chambers doesn't agree.

"It's a city problem," she said. "It's not a homeowner problem. It's why we pay taxes."

As people continue to build in Suburban Acres, Chambers wonders about their construction and the construction throughout the subdivision.

"Did they not see this in advance when they were putting in this many houses that it would be an issue?" she said.

DPW says it periodically cleans the ditches in the subdivision of debris.

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