City Councilman San Miguel Takes Flood Disaster to State and Federal Levels
By
KGNS News
Story Created:
Aug 6, 2012 at 10:33 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Aug 7, 2012
"The initial numbers that are coming back from some of the households is in the tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage."
District 6 City Councilman Charlie San Miguel is talking about the unexpected flooding that so many homeowners in Laredo were victims of on July 27th. He says he's still getting calls from people who are seeking help. He plans on presenting evidence of the damage to officials on the state and federal level in hopes of tapping into disaster relief funds.
"The only other option would be put in a claim with the city."
At tonight's city council meeting, San Miguel discussed ways to prevent this from happening in the future.
"There's some areas that we've identified where we can run surface drainage between houses to run from one area, one high point to a lower area without causing a lot of damage."
Families came forward at the meeting showing photos and videos of the damage the rain caused. Cindy Gutierrez and her husband were on hand speaking about their personal experience.
"It was a nightmare. I don't know how to explain it. It was just very scary."
Gutierrez like many others affected did not have flood insurance since the home she and her family have lived in for 15 years is not in a flood zone. She called her insurance company but was not successful in getting help.
"I explained what happened and they told me that because of natural running water, they were not able to help me."
"no doubt it's been a disaster for these families."
Councilman San Miguel is also proposing a requirement for homes within 150 feet of a storm drain to be elevated 30 inches above the curb.
"If these homes were maybe a foot higher, they wouldn't have got water damage. Water would be all around the house...would have been flowing out but wouldn't have damaged the home."
