Mesa Hills Dr. sees major flooding during storms
If you were on El Paso’s west side Monday evening, chances are you saw a blast of heavy rains and hail. But if you were on Mesa Hills Drive — you might have gotten caught in some major flooding.
Tuesday evening ABC-7 saw El Paso Water crews cleaning out clogged drains and with the monsoon season coming up, ABC-7 asked EPW about storm drainage projects for El Paso’s west side.
Monday evening water flowed down Mesa Hills Drive like a river.
“I lived in El Paso and grew up in Michigan and I’ve never seen anything like that,” Adam Marshall
Marshall captured video of cars driving through the flooded road.
Marshall said he just went in to pay for gas and came out.
“Immediately it just started pouring hail and rain,” Marshall said.
The heavy run off brought along with it construction barrels, branches and large rocks.
“Next thing i know this truck comes flying around and pops it’s tire and jumps up on the curb nearly hitting me,” Marshall said.
Marshall said even after the storm –the water continued to rise.
“I literally had to walk to my car barefoot with my pants and shoes rolled up just from the amount of water that was still flowing down the mountain,” Marshall said.
On Tuesday afternoon, crews cleaned up Mesa Hills Drive north of Mesa Street.
Earthmovers filled several dump trucks with debris.
Mesa Hills Drive south of Mesa Street looked a little cleaner but even a day later you can find debris up to 5 feet long and some drainages are stilled clogged up.
El Paso Water sent ABC-7 this statement:
“Our storm water maintenance crews are typically on standby during heavy rain events. They monitor frequent trouble spots and immediately respond when it’s safe to do so. We will spend the next few days clearing debris from drains, ditches and other waterways.”
They added:
“Our storm water maintenance crews work year-round to remove truck loads of sediment and debris from storm water infrastructure to ensure it functions properly for the monsoon season.”
Officials say there are projects for the west side in the works.
“On the westside alone, we have major projects in design or under construction near Mesa Hills, the Bear Ridge channel and near Helen of Troy that will improve the flood control.
EPW also said they are seeing a major issue of illegal dumping with trash dumped in waterways and blockages result in increased flooding. They are asking people to call 311 and report if they see illegal dumping or if they see trash blocking waterways.
