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Flooding fear pushed Baton Rouge homeowner to purchase personal aquadam

2 years 9 months 1 week ago Thursday, June 17 2021 Jun 17, 2021 June 17, 2021 5:57 PM June 17, 2021 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE – In desperation to avoid ripping out her walls, a woman in Baton Rouge took a new route in flood preparation. Mary Gentry purchased her own personal aquadam and spent Thursday afternoon setting it up.

“I paid rush shipping because I’m desperate,” said Gentry.

Gentry ordered the small flood prevention tool online just two days ago after she saw the potential heavy rain event this weekend.

“I'm constantly in research mode of what else can I do, what else can I do. I keep throwing money at the problem and it's not going away,” said Gentry.

Flood water backs up into Gentry’s backyard from a clogged drainage servitude and has gotten inside her home.

“My sun-room has flooded four times, my bedroom had to be torn out a couple of years ago,” explained Gentry.

Gentry has lived in her home on Somersby Avenue off of Antioch Road for 20 years, and only recently has had flood problems. When she moved in, the subdivision directly behind her wasn’t there.

“I'm not anti-development but this was not designed to handle all of this extra drainage,” said Gentry. “The other problem is the servitude on our private property. So, a lot of the homeowners aren’t original homeowners and they aren’t aware that they need to maintain that so it’s overgrown. City-Parish did clean it out last year but it just grows right back up.”

She bought her own pumping system, but it hasn’t helped and now she’s at her wit's end.

“I'm always worried. Every time it starts to rain I wonder is this going to be the time that I lose everything?”

Purchasing the aquadam is Gentry’s last ditch effort in saving her belongings. She wanted to have it in place before the next rainy day.

“If it's raining all night I don't sleep, I know it's useless. I bought cameras and put them in the back of my yard not for thieves or people like that, it's so I can watch what the water level is doing in my yard," said Gentry.

Using tap water to keep flood water away, Mary is making sure she’s ready for whatever Mother Nature brings.

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