City of Socorro to study options to address Coker Rd. flooding

Some Socorro residents living along Coker Road have been imploring authorities for help after their neighborhood has been devastated by floods time and time again. They will have to wait longer for relief.

“Disappointed. Betrayed. There’s a lot of anger and frustration,” said Rick Avalos, who lives on Coker Rd., between the Horizon City and San Elizario exits off I-10.

Monday night, the Socorro city council asked the staff to assess the value of the damaged homes so it can consider solutions.

“We are looking at property values,” Mayor Pro-Tem Rene Diaz told ABC-7 after the meeting. Among the options available, eminent domain and condemnation.

“This has been happening for 11 years,” Avalos said, blaming construction and development north of I-10. “This wasn’t a flood zone. It was (made) a flood zone.”

Diaz says he feels for residents.

“They’re frustrated because this has happened since the 2000s, but you know, it’s hard to say, and disheartening to see them go through these struggles,” he said. “As more developments occur, more runoff comes in and they’re in harm’s way, so we have to help them, in a sense, to see what we’re going to do so we have to evaluate their properties and go from there.”

He says solving a problem of this magnitude, involving different governmental agencies and areas is complex.

“You can see that we’ve bought equipment, we’ve bought property, we’ve set policies and procedures, unfortunately it’s too great a disaster just for us on a $9 million budget.”