Lower Valley Neighborhood Deals With Nasty Flooding Twice In Less Than Two Months

It all started on June 4th.

Families in the Ramos Court neighborhood were forced out of their homes due to flooding from a levee breach at the nearby Franklin canal. Several houses sustained heavy water damage and some were declared too dangerous to live in.

Since then Ramos Court residents had been staying at temporary housing set up and paid for by the City of El Paso. In the last few days, however, most families were given the green light to move back into their homes on Ramos.

“We were happy about coming back home,” said one Ramos resident. “But then the rain from last night made the situation worse.”

Tuesday night heavy rain overwhelmed the already-struggling neighborhood. Stormwater crews and volunteers from the Red Cross were on hand to contain the flooding and distribute sandbags.

“This street is prone to flooding due to the fact that there is no drainage here,” said a relative of a Ramos court resident Tuesday night.

Families told ABC-7 they were frustrated by the latest round of flooding because they had been looking forward to being able to fix up their homes after weeks of living in temporary housing. Now they’re afraid any improvements they make will be washed away during the next big storm.

“Everything I had been able to save from the first flooding is ruined now, too,” said Ramos resident Alicia Ontiveros, her eyes brimming with tears. “We’re not moving forward. We’re going backward,” she said.

A city spokeswoman said a team is currently looking for possible solutions to the drainage issues at Ramos Court. She said they are working with the El Paso Water Utilities and the Department of Transportation and Engineering to come up with a way to improve the situation. However, a timeline for these improvements was not specified.