HOUSTON – A drainage path behind several homes along Rollingwood Drive in Houston’s Spring Branch neighborhood is now filled with debris, fallen trees, damaged fencing and standing water, and residents say the lack of maintenance could lead to flooding.
Homeowner Laura McBee says the ditch is designed to carry stormwater away from the neighborhood and drain into a culvert near Long Point Road.
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But she says the area hasn’t been properly maintained in years.
“It’s supposed to drain out the culvert here at Longpoint,” McBee said.
According to McBee, debris has piled up throughout the easement, blocking water from flowing properly.
“There’s debris everywhere. There’s trees down. There is trash that has been thrown over the fencing. There are sections of fencing that are down, and it blocks off the runoff for the easement to drain properly,” she said.
Rising water levels during heavy rain
McBee says when heavy rain hits, water levels rise quickly. She showed emails she says she’s sent to the city asking for help.
“You can see the debris line with all of the leaves where the water has literally come up to the street level,” she said.
McBee says the city has only cleaned the ditch once in the past 12 years.
“One time, and it was about three or four years ago,” she said.
Standing water brings mosquitoes and wildlife
The standing water has also created additional concerns for neighbors, including mosquitoes and wildlife.
“We have terrible mosquito problems back here. There’s snakes, there are all sorts of wildlife and critters that are living back here,” McBee said.
She added that the problem is not isolated to her street.
“This is a serious, serious problem and it isn’t just our street that this is happening to. I have seen this in other parts of Spring Branch as well,” she said.
City council office says it’s working to address the issue
In a phone call, Houston City Councilwoman Amy Peck said her office is aware of the issue and is working to address it.
“Anytime that any of our ditches are overgrown, it’s absolutely a concern and it needs to be taken care of,” Peck said.
“We have asked Public Works to expedite maintenance on this and are willing to use council district service funds — anything that we can do to get this maintained as quickly as possible.”
Homeowner says the fix can’t wait
With standing water from recent rains already approaching fence level and more rain expected this week, McBee worries the situation could quickly worsen.
“I just literally pulled a baby water moccasin out of the pool less than a week ago,” she said.
McBee says the solution is simple.
“They need to come out and do this yesterday.”
She also questions why the issue hasn’t been addressed sooner.
“We all pay taxes, and I want to know where my tax money is going because clearly it’s not going to this issue,” McBee said.
What happens if flooding occurs?
If flooding were to occur, homeowners would likely be responsible for damage to their own property.
In many cases, standard homeowners insurance policies do not cover flood damage unless the homeowner has a separate flood insurance policy.
Insurance companies can sometimes try to recover costs from a city or government agency through a legal process known as subrogation. That process allows an insurer to pursue reimbursement after paying a claim, but only if it can prove the city was negligent in maintaining the drainage system.
Experts say that kind of proof can be difficult to establish and often requires documentation showing the city knew about the problem and failed to address it.
As of now, residents along Rollingwood Drive say they are continuing to push the city to clear the drainage easement before the situation gets worse.