Houston public works crews are clearing clogged drainage ditches in Kashmere Gardens to alleviate persistent flooding issues.
HOUSTON — Houston public works crews are working to clear overgrown and trash-filled drainage ditches in the Kashmere Gardens area of northeast Houston this week as heavy rains continue to impact the city. The crew is focused on re-establishing proper water flow through ditches that have become severely clogged with debris and vegetation.
The maintenance work is taking place across from Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, where community members have been dealing with persistent flooding issues. Deacon Wilbert James of the church expressed relief at seeing the city crews in action.
“Oh we love it, we’ve been having problems with flooding,” Deacon James told KHOU 11 News when asked how it felt to have city crews working in the area.
The drainage problems have been so severe that James took matters into his own hands, hiring two workers to help clean up the ditches before the city arrived. He believes the neighborhood needs more comprehensive drainage infrastructure.
“They need to come in here and put some drainage system in here,” Deacon James said when asked what the city should do for the neighborhood. When pressed about whether the current ditch cleaning efforts were sufficient, he responded, “No, not at all.”
The public works crew is using a combination of heavy machinery and manual labor to tackle the challenging conditions. While an excavator handles much of the work, some areas require hand tools for precision cleaning, particularly around culverts that need to be repositioned properly for optimal water flow.
Houston maintains approximately 2,500 miles of roadside ditches throughout the city. The current crew works 10-hour days, four days a week on drainage maintenance projects.
In an email statement, Houston Public Works said, “We are actively carrying out our efforts to re-establish open ditches, inspect enclosed stormwater systems and clean inlets.”
For residents in the Kashmere Gardens neighborhood and community leaders like Deacon James, improved drainage infrastructure would provide much-needed relief from recurring flood problems that have plagued the area.