Dallas residents call on the city to help with flooding issues

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – August’s historic flooding led to four feet of water inside Damon Chisenhall’s southeast Dallas house. 

“It’s.. it’s devastating for anybody to go through,” he said. “It’s sad, my father-in-law built this house in the late 70’s, early 80’s and it means a lot to the family and right now we’re in the process of contemplating raising it.” 

Chisenhall said while this is by far the worst damage they’ve ever experienced, in the last four years their house has flooded five times. They blame the buildup of debris in Hickory Creek, which runs through Balch Springs and Dallas and backs up to their property.

“It’s got trees down, brush, people keep illegally dumping at the bridges,” he said. “Now, with buildings going up and everything being built around, all the water has nowhere to go but the creek. Concrete is being placed all over the place. The runoff goes into the creek and it just continues to escalate.” 

A City of Dallas spokesperson said the city is aware of several areas that have experienced flooding, high water and other effects from the storm. It “continues to work with neighborhoods to better assist residents and update inventory for future projects, subject to funding.” 

“People are getting tired around here,” Chisenhall’s neighbor Diane Stice said. “These poor people lost everything. I know how it feels because the first time it happened, we lost everything. I mean the water was up to there. We had to call the fire department.” 

CBS 11 asked if there have been any efforts targeted towards Hickory Creek specifically and have yet to receive a response. 

 “A person shouldn’t worry every time it rains whether their house is going to flood or not, it’s up to the cities to get this cleared out,” Chisenhall said. “It’s my opinion whether it’s right or wrong, no homeowner is going to be able to do that.” 

Meanwhile, Chisenhall and his neighbors are trying to figure out where to go from here. 

“It makes you not want to do the repairs because what’s going to happen in the next rain and it’s sad,” he said.