Preston Hollow homeowners face severe flood damage from repeated water main breaks
DALLAS – Several Preston Hollow homeowners said their homes have severe damage due to flooding from a City of Dallas water main break earlier this month. They explain they're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket because both the city and the homeowners' insurance company claim it's not their problem. This also isn't the first time it's happened.
Video that homeowner Robert Brown shot may look like a lake, but it's of his backyard. Several feet of water flooded it 18 months ago.
"We had to call a company and basically have them rip out all the floors, rip out all the counter spaces, the walls up to about two feet high," Brown said.
Brown said the catastrophic flooding at his Preston Hollow home happened from a burst Dallas water main.
"This is emotional for me, but it's really, really hard, but it's hard as a homeowner to deal with this," Brown said.
The water main break happened up the hill from Brown's home along Margate Drive not once but twice. Crews remained outside tearing up concrete on the street Wednesday afternoon.
"We had water rushing all the way inside our house, down the driveway, towards that neighbor's house, and down on Northwest Highway," Brown said. "It just came through the side of the house and all the doors. We've been told you can't dry this any further. It has to be taken up."
Brown's next-door neighbor, Fred Graffam, sent CBS News Texas video of flooding two weeks ago.
"The first flood cost me $500,000, and the second one is $100,000 so far," Graffam said.
"It's not covered by insurance because it's not caused by the house or pipes in the house," Brown said.
The homeowners reported contacting the City of Dallas, which confirmed the flooding was due to a burst water main. However, the city informed them that it would not cover the repair costs.
"I paid $300,000 for the first flood. I had to come up with a lot of money with credit cards and loans. It pretty much ruined us last year to deal with this financially. We're still dealing with that, and for us to have to deal with this again is extremely terrible," Brown said. "This is like going to Vegas twice and losing at the same table. I'm hopeful the city actually sees this and does something right by it."
It's not a scene Brown expected to see again, but he's hoping to stay afloat and in his dream home despite the emotional and financial roller coaster.
In a statement, Dallas Water Utilities says it doesn't have a record of a water main break at 4373 W. Northwest Highway in the "last five years or a city-owned water-related Damage Claim filed by Mr. Robert Brown."
"DWU has experienced three (3) pipeline failures in the 4300 block of Margate Drive in the past two (2) years: 2/15/2023, 2/1/2024, and 8/9/2024, which is located to the north and uphill of Mr. Brown's property," the statement said. "Staff have confirmed that the breaks occurred on different pipeline segments (not in the same location). No records of claims submitted by Margate Drive residents were found in our system. Interested parties can submit a claim by contacting the Office of Risk Management.
"The existing water pipeline in the 4300 block of Margate Drive has previously been identified for replacement by DWU. The engineering design has been completed, and a construction contract including this pipeline is scheduled for council award this fall. Construction activities are expected to begin in spring 2025."
