Flooding issues leave ailing woman trapped in her Luke Street home
ATHENS, Ala. (WHNT) — Neighbors who live in the historic Luke Street and Strain Road community say that the long-standing flooding issues on their streets have worsened and are still searching for answers.
Sharon Wilson says that she was shocked when she looked outside during a heavy storm on Monday to see that the flooding in her Luke Street neighborhood had returned.
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“But this time when it flooded it was worse than it was the first time it flooded,” Wilson explained.
Wilson takes her ailing mother to her doctor’s appointments, but a video taken in front of her home shows that they were unable to get out because water had flooded the access ramp for the wheelchair.
“My mom had to use the bathroom and water just came flying out of the commode and all over the floor and it was coming back up into the hallway,” said Wilson.
Wilson called her neighbor Kirk Parker for help, but Parker was experiencing the same massive flooding that day in his nearby Strain Road community.
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“When I got here water was running across the street, water was all up in her house, and it was just a terrible, terrible sight,” Parker said.
People on Luke Street and their neighbors on Strain Road, along with the Limestone County NAACP have had several meetings with Athens City officials.
City employees cleaned out the ditches last year to help the flow of water, but the neighbors say there are new issues that are causing the problem.
Neighbors told News 19 that they believe that the construction of new housing developments surrounding the historically black community is putting a strain on the old septic tank system.
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“We’re feeling very certain that the new construction there is making it where the flooding and storm waters are coming this way, and they are coming this way again in full force and it is so unfortunate, said Diane Steel of the NAACP.
In response, a city of Athens spokesperson said, “We’re working with Communities Unlimited to get a pre-application submitted to ADEM for grant and/or loan funds, or a combination of both, related to drainage and sewer.”
Steele said that’s a great idea, but the homeowners experiencing the floods have not been notified of that fact.
“We just heard of that today and I feel that that is unfortunate that we have leadership that doesn’t have the courtesy to let the community know what’s going on,” said Steele.
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Parker said the plan is to keep facing city leaders until something is done to save their homes. From the flooding.
“We feel that this black neighborhood is paying the penalty for the growth of Athens, and we can’t live like this anymore,” Parker said.
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