Residents near Greenways lose homes due to playa lake flooding
Residents south of the Greenways playa lake in Amarillo have experienced catastrophic flooding all along 77th Street that has made their homes uninhabitable.
Ron Stone, who lives at 8081 SW 77th St., was forced to leave his home early Thursday due to rising water from the playa lake entering his home. He said that the water rose into his dwelling in a matter of minutes.
He and the rest of his neighbors have been without water since Thursday. His sister Mary Puckett, who lives across the street from him, also lacks water and power. While she prepared sandbags, the water rose so high that they worked to no avail.
According to Puckett, in February, her home insurance company dropped her flood insurance coverage, citing that the home was no longer considered to be in a flood hazard area. Last month when she noticed waters rising at playa lake, she reinstated it, but a 30-day waiting period is in effect, so her house is not covered for the flood.
Kimberly Hamlin, the niece of Stone and Puckett’s daughter, said the city had said the previous flood was a once-in-a-century event, which has now happened twice in the last decade. She said that since that flood, she has tried to get the city and other entities to look at the issues but says that their calls for help have been ignored while placating developers.
She said that the insurance company should have explained the drop in coverage better and used better judgment in their decision and communication with her mom.
“This policy not going in effect for 30 days means we are completely without coverage,” Hamlin said. “The only hope we have is that the state declares a state of emergency for the area because we will be fully responsible for the loss of our house.”
Late Tuesday, Gov. Greg Abbott's office issued a disaster declaration for the region including Potter and Randall counties.
Puckett said that she made countless calls over the years to the city of Amarillo, Randall County and other organizations to no avail about the deteriorating conditions due to all the new developments near the Greenways, which all drain into playa lake 7 in that area.
“They have built all this up out here and covered up everything with pavement, so the water cannot go into the ground anymore, with all the water running down into the waters that have flooded our houses,” Stone said. “They said this could easily be handled by this playa lake, and as you can see, it is not.”
According to Stone, the area had never seen any flooding before the new developments across the street and in the Greenways. Since then, the area has seen some flooding in 2015 and catastrophic flooding this year.
During this flood, Stone said that the only support that he has gotten from the city and county had been to close the road. He said the city has been out to test the water that has spilled, but he has gotten no assistance from the city. His home, as well as the other flooded homes, are just barely outside of the city limits, but the playa lake that is flooding them is within the city limits.
He said that there was no warning from the city or county about the flood in the playa, which even while being pumped is still inches under water. His sister’s house is unable to be drained, with water all through the house.
“I have tried to reach out to both the city and county, and they both say that it is not their responsibility,” Stone said. “We have had to live together with family and have been unable to live in our houses. We need the water drained now so that we can get to our houses to do salvage, repair or demolition if necessary.”
He said that he was able to get most of his stuff out of his house outside of appliances.
“The family has really come together to take care of each other,” Stone said. “We have worked together to try to pack up each other’s stuff."
The family is still waiting to get some relief from the Red Cross but have been told that they have to wait for them to do their assessment before they can provide relief.
“We are all staying with families and haven’t heard anything about relief on that front,” Hamlin said. “We have eight people in our house right now, and Ron is staying with another family member."
Hamlin said that the city needs to be held accountable for its negligence in providing proper drainage to the playa lake.
“If you are going to build a subdivision, maybe plan it properly,” Hamlin said. “We all grew up here, and now our homes have been destroyed. It is awful. If we did not have our family here, it would be so much worse.”
Stone said that the city said a study was done and this flood is the fruit of its lack of an actual plan.
“The county and the city have both declared a disaster, but we only heard about it from the news, nobody from the city or county," he said.
Hamlin said city officials should take responsibility for the problem they created.
“What if this was you,” Hamlin said. “What if this was you having to pull your elderly mother and father out of their home for flooding? It was scary, and I hope that no one will go through that."
The family is fundraising for help and keeping in contact with the Red Cross seeking help.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Homes inhabitatable near Amarillo due to playa lake flooding
