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North Austin neighborhood still reeling from April floods gears up for rounds of rain
It’s been six months since flood waters ravaged homes along Little Walnut Creek in North Austin.
AUSTIN, Texas — Heavy rain is set to sweep through Central Texas overnight Wednesday and into Thursday morning, which will increase the threat for potential flooding.
It has left some people who live on Mearns Meadow Boulevard in North Austin on edge. Six months ago, on April 20, dozens of homes were left ravaged by floodwaters.
The problem stemmed from clogged storms drains in Little Walnut Creek, and in August, the City of Austin officially kickstarted a nearly $20 million project aimed at reducing flooding in the area.
“We’ve been much more diligent about checking the creek and trying to find out if there are problems,” said resident Dustin Grant.
Grant hopes when the project is complete, it will bring the entire area out of the flood zone. According to the city’s website, some homes will be out of the flood zone.
However, Grant feels as the project is underway, there should be more of a response and communication when rainfall does come around.
“Just keeping the creek clean is the most immediate preventative risk or preventive action for the risk mitigation,” said Grant.
He explained how last month, he and a group of people walked through the creek and pulled debris out in preparation for rain. Grant said he called Austin 311 so a crew could clear it from the property, but had a difficult time getting a response. The status of his request was either “work in progress” or “closed.”
After some time with no response, he decided to send a mass email to city leaders.
“A truck showed up a couple of days later and was here to do the work,” said Grant.
KVUE reached out to 311 on Wednesday about the process of sending out a service request.
A spokesperson sent the following statement: “When a resident calls Austin 3-1-1 to submit a service request, the service request is taken and submitted to the appropriate city department. The service request is then investigated and resolved by the appropriate city department. Each service request that is entered is always given a different service request number. “
The city also added a link about what happens when the status is considered “closed.”
Grant said his house is roughly 50% to 60% complete. With the creek so close to his home, and many others, he only hopes with each time it rains, it doesn’t add to his long list of repairs.
“I’m getting beat up physically doing it myself and it’s like having a second job now,” said Grant. “I’m going out of my way now to really try to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”