UNDER WATER: Area still dealing with flood

(San Benito News/Ray Quiroga)

By RAY QUIROGA
publisher@sbnewspaper.com

Don’t approach Alejandro G. Leal with a problem you don’t have a proposed solution for. That’s easily one of the retired businessman and military veteran’s biggest pet peeves.

A decade ago, Leal, who volunteered for and sat on several boards and committees throughout his professional career, moved to the San Benito outskirt colonia of Green Valley Farms off of Iowa Gardens Rd, first believing it was part of the Resaca City, only to soon discover that it’s unincorporated.

By that point, his mind was set on establishing a modest ranch on a five-acre tract of this low-lying subdivision in Cameron County. Knowing the reputation for flooding in the area, he built his residence higher than county code, which added significant cost to his abode.

Yet, when the floodwater came on March 27-28, there also came a time when he had to make a choice of either staying at his residence or fleeing in his new pick-up in order to save the vehicle from being overtaken by the quickly rising water.

He chose to save his truck, and by the time he returned to his property after the rain ceased, it was under water. Before leaving the night before, he had let his livestock free to find higher ground, something they have done successfully in past rain events. However, this time, there was no place to run, and Leal lost his livestock to the flood.

Days later, as area floodwater was slow to recede, the patience of Green Valley Farms’ residents wore thin, and fingers were being pointed. Leal admitted that he too wondered if property owners of surrounding areas were pumping water into the colonia. After all, he thought, water continued to rise well after the rain had stopped.

Truth is, however, Green Valley Farms, believed to once be a flourishing lake, acted as a huge bowl where water naturally drained from surrounding areas. Leal caught himself and began brainstorming solutions rather than spouting off problems.

One thought was to approach the San Benito leadership, wondering if the City was interested in annexing Green Valley Farms. While the City would be responsible for infrastructure and services, it would have those properties in its tax roll.

Leal also wonders if the county was willing to hire one crew member dedicated to digging ditches with a backhoe, year-round. He also hopes county leaders will revamp county building codes to include raising the foundation levels on newly constructed homes in the subdivision, despite the initial cost to the homebuilder.
Admittedly, he understands these ideas won’t fully resolve the flooding issues at Green Valley Farms, but he feels they’ll go a long way in alleviating them.

Another individual with ideas is J.V. Garcia, a civil engineer and drainage advocate pushing for a regional approach to the Valley’s flood crisis. Currently, he explains, drainage is being managed by individual counties, cities, and drainage and irrigation districts with no consensus on how to best handle rain events such as the one experienced in the Valley two weeks ago.

“Each entity is responsible for their own designated area with different funding levels and different tax rates and different priorities,” he said. Thus creating a patchwork of different drainage systems, he added.
Garcia is part of the RGV Coalition of Drainage Advocates (CODA), which is circulating a petition for local and state leaders to form a RGV Flood Control District. Interested individuals can go online and log onto https://chng.it/k6jfrkZxHp to learn more and sign the petition.

When March’s rain event was over, some 13 hours after it commenced, an estimated 18-23” of rain is believed to have fallen on the area. Sections of downtown Harlingen had endured up to waste-high flooding in what’s being called, “The Flood of the Century,” breaking known rainfall records in the Rio Grande Valley dating back that long or longer.

The Arroyo Colorado crested at 30.44’, shattering the previous record set on July 21, 2010 of 24.22’. Thus far, six RGV deaths that night are believed to have been weather-related, according to the National Weather Service Brownsville/RGV station (NWSB).

At least 1,000 buildings were flooded Valley-wide, reads the NWSB report on the storm. Another 1,000 vehicles sustained severe water damage and were abandoned, while “an unknown number of roads and bridges sustained structural damage due to the floodwaters,” according to the NWSB.

Valley International Airport in Harlingen canceled all flights through March 31 due to flooded taxiways and other damage to its pavement.

By the weekend, state and local officials, including various mayors and county judges in the Rio Grande Valley, signed disaster declarations with Texas Governor Greg Abbott following at the state level, issuing a disaster declaration for Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Willacy counties on March 29.

By that Wednesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was believed to have made a damage assessment to report back to Washington DC, which may result in a Federal Disaster Declaration.

Finally, in response to the flooding, the City of San Benito and the County are forgoing permit fees for repair work done on and around damaged property. “In response to recent flooding and pursuant to the emergency powers and authorities granted to the County, Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, Jr. has announced building permit fees for flood-related home repair permit applications would be waived for a period of 14 days,” reads a press release issued by the County Judge’s office.

“A great amount of our residents are focusing their efforts on recovering from flood damage right now, and waiving permit fees for flood-related home repairs is a positive action we can take to alleviate the stress and reduce costs to our residents who were affected by the unexpected flood waters,” said Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño.