Flooding Problems Continue At Local Lakes
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GRAND PRAIRIE (CBS 11 NEWS) - As the flood water recedes in area lakes it reveals two problems: 1) There is a lot of damage left to repair and 2) It's not going down any faster as some had hoped. That doesn't leave a lot of positives for park directors anxious to rebuild and reopen.
"Well, let me give you the negatives first," said Bob McGlothlin, Grand Prairie Lake Parks Supervisor. "The lake is still 11 feet high. And as you can see it still covering the roads. It is been up in the bathroom. As you can see we got a bathroom behind us and it's been up there about a foot into that bathroom at one point in time."
Park workers fix buildings like the bathroom and clear debris as soon as receding waters allow.
But, even as the water inches its way off the shore it does more damage.
"Oh yeah, this is the road," McGlothlin said pointing at the mud covered pavement with flood water lapping at its edges. "And you can see it's tearing up the edges of the road and taking the base material out from underneath it."
And it's leaving the tell-take signs of more damage on shore, a fine, soft sand.
"The things I'm really worried about are still underwater," McGlothlin said. "The beach. I'm afraid we've lost a lot of our sand off the beach."
The beach, if there is one left, is still underwater. But there's little hope any sand remains.
Everywhere you look you can see costly damage. But it's what you don't see that costs the most -- there are no paying visitors.
"The longer we stay closed? We're probably looking at a million and a half now out of a two and a half million dollar budget," McGlothlin said.
Optimistically, McGlothin hopes to have some of the parks open by mid-August.
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