North Texans Working Around High Water To Enjoy Area Lakes
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Many North Texans worked around the high water to spend Memorial Day on area lakes.
At Joe Pool Lake in Grand Prairie, boat ramps remain closed due to high water, but Lynn Creek Marina staffers have gotten creative to make sure boat owners can still enjoy the lake.
"They've done a great job, they always do," says Courtney Harvey, whose boat is moored at the marina. "They've done everything from build a bridge to ferry us back and forth. They do a great job taking care of the slip owners." Adapting to changing weather conditions, says Harvey, has become the norm. "Every other year, second year, it's like this. But, when you're a slip owner and you already have your boat on the lake...it's a private lake when you get out here."
With some ramps and roads closed, flexibility has been the mandate at lakes across North Texas during the unofficial start to summer.
Grapevine Lake, for example, some 16 feet higher than normal, flooding parking lots and drying up traffic to nearby businesses.
"It's just part of the deal of running a seasonal business," said Matthew Armand at Big Daddy's Ship Store, heading into the long weekend. "Been doing this a long time. We're going to be here and we're going to try to make it happen, one way or another."
And that resilience appears to have paid off. Armand says the long weekend so far has been surprisingly successful. "Not what we would normally have done on a holiday weekend," says Armand. "But, I'd call it a success."
Which is certainly better than a bust. Other North Texans, too, looking to make the best of the challenging conditions.
"I knew it was flooded," says German Quiroz, "didn't know it was going to be this high, actually." Quiroz was enjoying the day with his family at Lynn Creek Park in Grand Prairie.
They were among the lucky ones to make it through the gates before park staffers closed the area to additional visitors. Many picnic areas were underwater, catching some families by surprise.
"I was like, man, I don't know what to do!" shared
Robert Hernandez, "It was about to drown my truck or something! I was like, where we gonna park? "
The higher water was even taking a bite out of Sedric Brown's favorite fishing hole. He says when the water is low "everything's biting: catfish, crappie, perch, blue gill...it's a good spot to fish," says Brown.
But when the water gets too high, he says it's just like living in a flood plain. "We get washed out. They get washed out. They got to rebuild."
So be patient and be mindful of when the last ferry leaves! A lesson the Harvey family learned the hard way.
"Walked through the parking lot, coolers over the head," adds Courtney Harvey with a laugh, while assuring me that they'll be on that last ferry tonight. "Yes! We will!"