NAVASOTA, Texas (KRHD) — Watch the full story here:
Flooding fears have gripped Business 6 neighbors on North La Salle since the Hidden Hills subdivision was built in 2022, with two major flooding events already forcing evacuations.
Residents along Business 6 in Navasota say flooding has become a serious and recurring problem since the Hidden Hills subdivision was built behind their properties — and they say no major flooding had occurred in more than 60 years before that.
Leona Binford, a local resident, said she lives in fear every time it rains.
"I'm afraid to go to bed at night whenever it's raining because I don't know if I'm gonna wake up and water is gonna be in my house."
Since the first homes were built in Hidden Hills in 2022, there have already been two flooding events. Binford, who is 90 years old, had to be rescued from her home during both.
"The first flood, well, they carried two firemen carried me out, one on each side, and this last flood they took me out in a boat," Binford said.
Binford and her husband built their home on Business 6 and have lived there for 65 years.
Neighbor Donna Orozco said her building had never taken on water before the subdivision went in.
"For 20 years my building never took on water ever during any rain event of any kind," Orozco said.
Orozco says Hidden Hills sits 3 feet higher in elevation than her property, and that the raised foundations of the new homes have created a drainage problem for existing residents.
"They raised the elevation of the foundations of these homes that they've built, and they've put us in a situation to where they've turned us into a retention pond," Orozco said.
The ditch along the west side of Business 6 needs to be cleared of brush and debris to help water flow, and the current retention pond is not large enough to handle the runoff. Orozco says the pond was already expanded once after the first flooding event, but the problem persists.
"When we first flooded, it, they said it was too small, so they come back and they redug it more, but it's still not big enough, and that's the only retention pond down here," Orozco said.
Orozco says she has been unable to get a clear answer on which government entity is responsible for fixing the problem.
"TxDOT says it's the city's responsibility. The city says it's TxDOT's, and neither one of them does anything," Orozco said.
TxDOT said the drainage issue on the west side of LaSalle Street is not in their right-of-way. The City of Navasota has not responded to a request for comment.
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