Cowtown Projects Send Flood Worries Down the Drain
By LITA BECK
Updated 10:48 PM CST, Wed, Oct 21, 2009
Improved drainage systems in Fort Worth were put to the test during Wednesday's drenching rains.
The city is spending millions to improve them to prevent flooding. Fort Worth has 65 projects in the works, part of a $70 million bond issue.
"Most of them are addressing longstanding flooding problems," said Don McChesney, of Fort Worth Stormwater Management. "So we're going in and enlarging the drainage systems and, in some cases, building relief systems to accommodate this very heavy rainfall that we often get here."
Residents of neighborhoods that have flooded in the past said they now feel safe.
Mary DeChellis' Briarhaven home has flooded three times in the last eight years.
"We were wondering, 'When is this going to end?' It was a nightmare," she said.
The project on her street is nearly finished.
"It was long in coming, but it was worth it," DeChellis said. "I think we'll be dry in all the rainy seasons from here on out."
The city has identified many more trouble spots, but officials said it will take a lot more time and money to get to all of them.
First Published: Oct 21, 2009 10:05 PM CST
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