Water Damages Homes in West El Paso

Several streets were flooded in West El Paso Friday night after about 1.5 inches of rain fell in the region. The neighborhood around Bear Ridge and Redd Rd. was awash with dirt and rocks after the rains.

Residents on the 690 block of Swede Johnsen Dr. had part of their street torn up Saturday morning after the floodwaters broke the asphalt under pressure.

Long-time residents said although there have been worse downpours the situation was worsened by a newly-built rock wall in a neighboring empty lot.

Neighbors said the lot, which is immediate to several Swede Johnsen houses, had a rock wall built around February.

One of the neighbors, a hydraulic engineer who wished to remain unnamed, said the wall collected all the runoff water and stopped it from going over the cliff edge as it used to. He said the water pressure built up enough and eventually broke a backyard rock wall, forming an arroyo that rushed through three houses.

“Five houses above us, all the rock walls are in our backyard, currently. We’ve got furniture, grills, patio furniture all in our backyard. People have already come and picked up stuff, but we’re the ones that got hit the most. This is where the water actually stopped,” said Elsa Inman, a Swede Johnson neighbor.

ABC-7 noticed the damage only went through three consecutive homes.

A water damage repair company said indoor damage could cost homeowners up to $8,000.

“All the carpet on the first floor had to be removed. The sheet rock, some of it is gonna have to be removed on the whole first floor. Probably about 2-3 foot of sheet rock. And the backyard has a huge cleanup. We still have about a foot high of ice still in the backyard and all the mud and boulders,” said Scott Inman, a neighborhood resident.

Repair companies said the damage could take several days to fix.