SAN ANTONIO – A South Side family has been dealing with flooding on their property for decades, even after reporting the issue to San Antonio’s city services.
Rockwell Boulevard residents have dealt with unbearable flooding on their property since the 1980s, according to Onesimo Barrera, who lives in the neighborhood just inside of Southwest Loop 410.
“I got a pump that’s been pumping for eight days today,” Barrera said. “I call 311, I don’t know, 10 times. I call the councilman day after day.”
The flooding in their home led them to hoist their furniture up onto cans to salvage what they can of their belongings.
“San Antonio needs to do something,” Lisa Barton, Onesimo’s daughter, said. “And then (Barerras) damages, who is going to pay for that? I mean, it just doesn’t make sense. It’s ridiculous, and then my mom’s in a wheelchair, she can’t get out. He has to carry her.”
The Barreras said the issue stemmed from a neighbor dumping dirt on their property and clogging a drain.
“The drainage ditch is full,” Barrera said. “Maybe once, twice a week with a load, he drives in there and unloads it.”
The City of San Antonio told TheTXLoop in an email this issue stems from a situation on private property.
“Construction on private property appears to have diverted the natural flow of surface water, negatively affecting nearby properties,” a spokesperson for the city wrote. “The Department is currently assessing how the city can help alleviate the situation and reduce these impacts.”
The Barreras want the issue to be handled much faster than it is currently being addressed.
“Code compliance takes, I don’t know, 30 days,” Barton said. “But I mean, you’re talking about a whole city against one person, and you’re telling me that a whole city can not take care of that one person with the drainage.”
The city sent a truck to their home to pump out some water, but Barrera said it didn’t do much.
“They came the other day, pumped two trucks full,” Barrera said. “It didn’t make a dent on that, and it’s gonna keep raining during the rainy season.”
One of their neighbors had a similar problem with standing water in their backyard, but the issue is very secluded to Rockwell Blvd because all of the water from nearby streets flows down to them, Barrera said.
“It has to be changed,” Barrera said. “I mean, the city can not expect me to live like this.”
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