City of Fort Worth asks for assistance fixing flooding in Lebow Channel

The city of Fort Worth is asking for help to take on severe flooding in the northside that has killed five people in recent years.

It’s happening in the area of the Upper Lebow Channel, and the city is asking for $100 million in federal grant money to fix the issue.

For years, people living in neighborhoods near the channel have reported significant flooding when it rains. Pictures and videos residents sent to NBC 5 showed the streets and yards completely submerged in rushing water. In some cases the floodwaters have seeped into homes, causing thousands of dollars in damage.

“Homes getting destroyed, people losing their lives, where’s the people that we have elected to take care of us, to take care of our streets?” said Marisela Baeza.

The culprit is the Upper Lebow Channel, a drainage gulley that runs from Blue Mound Road to Long Avenue. The channel snakes through backyards and under city streets.

“It doesn’t have to even rain hard,” Baeza said. “Just a little bit of shower and the roads are flooded.”

Growing up in a neighborhood passed through by the channel, Marisela Baeza has seen the worst of this flooding.

But she didn’t know the full impact of the Lebow floodwaters.

A city report from December 2023 said that in recent years, five people have died as a result of flooding caused by the Lebow Channel.

“Approximately 25 instances of structure flooding…and two high-water rescues,” were reported according to the notice sent to the Fort Worth Mayor and City Council in advance of their December 12 meeting. “Staff believes there is significantly more flooding in the area than reported.”

“No, that’s awful, that’s terrible,” Baeza said. “You can’t get in, you can’t get out, and it puts people in a very dangerous situation.”

“That should not be happening,” she continued.

Fort Worth’s city council representative for District 2 Carlos Flores told NBC 5 the channel was originally designed to help with flooding.

But an increase in development in the area over the years has forced more floodwaters into the Lebow Channel than it can contain.

“So to stay on top of it, very early on we had proposed a multi-phased approach to take care of the flooding mitigation,” Flores said.

The city’s December report said that since 2001, Fort Worth has conducted three hazardous roadway flooding mitigation projects surrounding the Lebow Channel, restored portions of the channel with new concrete, and issued road closures.

But the report also said the majority of the work has happened in the Lower Lebow Channel and hasn’t improved conditions in neighborhoods to the north of Long Avenue.

“These two grants that are in question will help address that,” Flores said.

In December, the Fort Worth city council voted to apply for two FEMA grants worth a total of $100 million to address flooding in the Upper Lebow Channel.

“Flood mitigation assistance is the first for $50 million, and then there’s a second one that involves building resiliency and infrastructure in communities,” Flores said.

The city is set to find out if they’ve received the grants by the end of this year.

Flores told NBC 5 that if Fort Worth gets the funding, the design phase of the project would happen next year and then construction could begin by 2026.

Some residents said action should be taken sooner.

“Why isn’t it being taken care of, we work, we’re paying taxes, why isn’t it being taken care of?” said Baeza. “That’s a situation that shouldn’t happen.”

NBC 5 took those concerns to city leaders.

“Is there no city money that can go to at least addressing the area that is killing people in terms of the floodwater on the roads?” we asked Councilman Flores. “Is there anything that can be applied in a short-term fix before waiting on federal money?”

“Let me be clear: we have done everything in each budgetary cycle to invest dollars into doing work, and we have done work and will continue to do work,” Flores responded. “We’re not standing still by any means.”