Residents Learn Of City’s Plan To Condemn Homes Due To Storm 2006

EL PASO, Tx. – As a result of the flooding from Storm 2006, several residents on Mowad Road in Canutillo will never be able to enter their homes again.

During a Wednesday evening meeting, residents of the hard-hit neighborhood found out that the city has condemned their damaged houses. Some residents weren’t very happy about the decision.

It was a packed house at St. Patrick’s Church in Canutillo late Wednesday as residents learned of the city’s plan to buy out the homes on Mowad in order to clear out mold and mud-crusted homes that were left unlivable after Storm 2006.

Representatives from Congressmen Silvestre Reyes office, Westside City Representative Ann Morgan Lilly, and other officials were on hand to talk to residents about the decision and the pending plan.

A city spokeswomantold the group thatthey will buy out the homes at their value before the storm hit. Additionally, officialssaidthey will not issue any building permits on Mowad and will ask the utility companies to shut off service to that area permanently.

For some Canutillo residents, the news was yet another hard blow they would have to endure.

One resident told ABC-7, “People are confused, they’re afraid, they’re angry, mostly I think it’s the fear of having to start all over again…”

Another resident also says she will continue to appeal to agencies for help to buy furniture and other goods destroyed in her parents home by Storm 2006.

They city is working withFEMA to be able to offer additional rental assistance.