Old Homes In Arlington Heights Plagued By Flooding
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Arlington (CBSDFW.COM) - It was a long, unexpected night for Carleton and Western Avenues and the homes built half a century ago on an old creek bed in Arlington Heights. Home video and Facebook posts showed storm water raging down streets in the area.
It was surprising because millions of dollars of drainage improvements during several years should have eased the flooding problems.
"It did not work last night," said Karen Abrams, a long time Arlington Heights resident. "It was about 4 foot in height of water. And it is rapid and rolling through backyards and driveways."
Water also flowed through garages, some homes and over cars.
"It's not fixed," Abrams said. "They need to get this crap fixed. Period."
"I wish I could say to her you're absolutely right it does have to stop and this is how we're going to stop it," said Dennis Shingleton, the Fort Worth council member who represents the district. "But I don't have a fix -- a permanent fix."
Shingleton said the drainage fixes over the years weren't designed to stop flooding entirely, only to prevent it during normal rains.
"But when you get 3.7 inches of rain in one hour very difficult to plan for that," Shingleton said.
The only long-term cure for flooding in the area he says, is to buy up homes over the old creek, tear them down and rebuild the creek.
"But you're talking somewhere in the neighborhood of 48 to 50 homes -- high value homes, high-value property."
Shingleton emphasized that flooded homes are not acceptable. He said he would bring concerns about flooding to the city council in a workshop meeting to see if the city might be able to explore more flood control options.
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