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Socorro may acquire flood-damaged homes; some residents given 120 days to move out

Five months after the Socorro City Council decided to study the ongoing, devastating flooding along Coker Road, representatives took action on finding a solution.

At Thursday’s City Council meeting, representatives directed the city manager to develop a long-term plan to acquire certain properties on or near Coker Road, to construct drainage improvements in the area and to authorize the use of the power of eminent domain for the acquisition.

The plan is expected to cover a five-year span.

Rick Avalos and his wife, Guadalupe, live near Corker Road and were eager to hear what representatives had to say.

Guadalupe Avalos lives along Coker Road between the Horizon City and San Elizario exits of I-10. She and her children watched the high water raced through their neighborhood. Avalos and other residents have been desperately asking authorities for help after their neighborhood has been devastated by floods time and time again.

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

County stormwater plan identifies root of Socorro flooding issues

It is an ongoing emotional and financial struggle for families.

“The cleanup afterwards. We never know if it backs up into the house. We have to wait for it to finish flowing downhill and then we will be able to go in and see if there is any damage to the houses,” Guadalupe Avalos said.

Just this past week, the Avalos family said they received a letter from the city letting them know their home had been condemned and they have three months to move.

At large representative Rene Rodriguez expects the city’s long-term plan to completed soon. He thinks the city council could vote on it in two weeks at the next city council meeting.

If it is approved, Rodriguez said the city would grant the residents an extension, but it is not clear how long.

In the meantime, residents living near Coker road are left in limbo, not knowing what their future holds.

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