'A serious problem': Man on street with no curbs or gutters fears flooding will wipe out his home
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - As the metro continues to deal with strong storms and flooding, one homeowner is fed up with the water problems in his northwest OKC neighborhood.
On a normal day, David Watson says all is well in the neighborhood he's called home for decades.
But he says when it rains, the neighborhood's got a serious flooding problem.
"We don't have curb and gutters which is where storm water run...we flood and it crazy floods," said Watson.
He's spent twenty-three years documenting the problem through emails, pictures, a flood study and surveys he once collected from neighbors to show the impact.
"You can see just the sheer volume of water that we're talking about," he said, motioning to all of the material neatly lined out on his dining room table.
He told KFOR he thought a 2017 Oklahoma City bond project specifically for flood prevention included in the Better Streets, Safer City program could help fix it.
The bond package includes $62 million for drainage control projects.
But, he learned his neighborhood is not included in the infrastructure improvement program, even though there are others nearby, including a drainage control project along W Britton Road to the Sunnymeade Place in Nichols Hills Suburban Tracts.
In an email Tuesday from the City of Oklahoma City, an official said the last bond program did not include a drainage project in Watson's area:
As a note, when developers built older neighborhoods, they did not include underground storm sewers to assist with the drainage, and per city standards, streets are designed to carry/hold the water. We do have times where drainage systems (to include the streets) receive significant and consistent rainfall and cannot keep up with the water flow. We do continue to monitor locations for possible future projects.
Shannon Cox, City of Oklahoma City Public Works Administration
While Watson has weathered storms in the neighborhood so far, David's concerned he's one rainstorm away from a wipeout.
"This house...that doesn't flood today would flood [tomorrow]," he said.
"I have a huge investment in this house. And the only option is, is to lay here and take it."