Fallen trees clogging up drainage ditch, causing flooding in Houston neighborhood, resident says

HOUSTON — Lashawn Porche’ has her work cut out for her. She inherited family property in Houston’s South Park neighborhood, but she says ever since a storm blew through the area, the place has been less than enjoyable. 

Since December, a tree from her backyard and one from her neighbor’s yard have fallen, blocking the drainage ditch behind her home. She said this has led to flooding in her backyard whenever there is heavy rain. 

“By those trees being down, it’s going to accumulate trash and water build up and when that buildup comes up, it’s going to back up on the neighborhood community,” said Porche’.

Having endured a rebuild after Hurricane Harvey, Porche’ has spent the last few months fearing the worst.

“The city took about two months to give me a callback and tell me that it was not their protocol,” she said. “I reached out to the Flood Control division, again it was one of those back and forth.”

So KHOU 11 reached out to the city’s public works department to find out who could help. 

Public Works told us a case number was sent to the county’s Flood Control District back in February.

After a call to Flood Control, we were informed Porche’ is on the mowing schedule for the end of this month. 

“Hey!! I thank you all for coming out to assist me and researching, but I’m glad it’s getting done,” she excitingly said. 

The Flood Control District couldn’t tell us exactly why Porche’s call took this long, but an office operator says there are several factors at play when it comes to response times including the weather, the amount of calls and the hours crews are working in this heat.

Public Works encourages residents to use 3-1-1 with any issues because it’s the best way to track calls for repairs.

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