Couple spends wedding anniversary pumping out flooded yard
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A Monkey Junction couple has been dealing with a nightmare situation for a week.
Runoff from recent rain flooded their yard and backed up their septic system and they’ve been struggling to receive any help.
“It breaks my heart to think that we don’t matter,” said Betty Caldwell.
Caldwell and her husband Larry have been trying to pump out their flooded yard for a week and they aren’t receiving much help.
“The DOT redid the Carolina Beach Road. They dug the ditches so the water would run off the road. But when they did that, the water all ran down this way,” said Larry.
They say those ditches are not the only thing causing the increased runoff.
“Before the subdivisions were built, there were two ponds, and the water would drain into that, and then drain into the creek,” said Betty.
One of those new subdivisions sits up on a hill and you can see a pool of water at the bottom, flooding the streets below.
“These are people that invested in the American dream,” said Betty.
Jessica Loeper with New Hanover County says even though the roads are maintained by the DOT. The county voluntarily sent an engineer out on Wednesday to pump out some of the water. But it filled back up with rain. The Caldwell’s want answers for help from the DOT.
“They came down here and assessed the problem and said they would put us on the list to clean the culverts out down here,” said Larry.
“It’s our 46th wedding anniversary. What a way to spend it,” said Betty.
DOT released this statement on the flooding:
To the best of our knowledge, no one from DOT has been contacted by citizens in this area with regards to drainage in this neighborhood. This section of the project was accepted last year on October 4, 2017. Median crossovers were the only alterations made to the existing roadway in this area. The crossover that was constructed south of Manassas Drive was graded to drain to the drop inlets in the median rather than to any drainage structures or areas outside of the roadway. That being said, our Maintenance staff will investigate.
