MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Some people in Germantown are trying to get back on their feet after their neighborhood was impacted by heavy flooding Tuesday night. Instead of enjoying the Fourth of July, folks in the Oakleigh neighborhood had to deal with the storms and lots of water.
In roughly 30 to 45 minutes, rain caused heavy flooding in Germantown. Tuesday’s storm pushed rushing water from a nearby creek into the streets and homes of resident near Oakleigh and Somerset Lanes. Water got as high as mailboxes. People are still dealing with the aftermath of flooding, broken tree limbs and no internet service.
“It’s just a nightmare,” said Corrie Herrington, a Germantown resident.
Herrington lives in the Oakleigh neighborhood in Germantown. Tuesday, while many were celebrating the Fourth of July holiday, Herrington and her neighbors were struggling to keep safe and dry.
“The heavy rain started around five o’clock. Poured. It just poured,” said Herrington. “It did not stop. It got higher and higher very quickly. We had to call 911.”
Water nearly two to three feet deep rushed into homes.
“It was like a bowl of water in the middle of the street,” said Herrington.
Neighbors said this was not the first time it flooded. In 2019, Jose Salazar’s home was flooded.
“We had to be taken out by the fire department because the water was so high,” said Salazar, a Germantown resident.
This time, his house flooded again.
“This whole entire front yard was covered. My driveway was covered in water. The whole backyard was about at least two to three feet deep,” said Salazar.
The water line from the flood could be seen on Salazar’s gate. There is a creek behind it that neighbors said is not cleaned as often as it should.
“It’s frustrating. Anytime there’s a bad storm, we get nervous,” said Salazar. “It’s to the point now where if we want to sell the house, not even because this is happening, who would want to buy the house... I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“We’re just stuck if they don’t fix it. This is going to happen again and again,” said Herrington. “In five years, this has happened twice. Germantown is not doing their job. That’s all I can say.”
All they can do is hope for a response and action.
“I would like to see them address this and use the money that’s in the budget to fix it,” said Herrington.
Neighbors said the area is not in a flood zone, so many don’t have flood insurance.
We reached out to the City of Germantown. They responded with the following statement:
"High-intensity, short-duration storm events are becoming increasingly more frequent, not only in Germantown, but throughout the country. This most recent intense rainfall event and the resulting saturated ground has caused significant flooding issues for our residents and the City shares their frustration.
Since the last major flooding event in 2019, the City of Germantown and the Stormwater Advisory Commission have invested a significant amount of time and resources toward improving stormwater conveyance throughout the community. To date, a number of neighborhood drainage improvement projects, data collection, modeling and preliminary engineering services have been completed for two of the City's major drainage ditches, which includes Lateral E that serves the Oakleigh subdivision. Most recently, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen awarded a $2 million contract in June dedicated to the first phase of improvement to the Lateral E ditch downstream of Oakleigh.
The entirety of the City's approximately $12 million allocation of federal American Rescue Plan funding, has also been earmarked for upcoming stormwater capital improvements over the course of the next year. The City plans to continue to aggressively pursue federal funding opportunities that align with our identified, higher-cost infrastructure projects."