Some Skiatook Residents Blame City Drainage For Constant Flooding Issues

Some neighbors in Skiatook say they fear their homes will flood whenever there's a heavy rain. Some are blaming the constant flooding on the city’s drainage system.

The water has gone down, but the signs of it are still visible. On one porch, there's soaked sand bags and ripped up carpet.

The threat of flooding never goes away for Julie Sam. For years she's dealt with it, but it's getting harder to do.

"It's not very comforting to wonder how far it got or what it damaged," she said.

Tuesday night’s severe weather filled yards and ditches with water - in some of the lower sitting houses, like Sam's, the water got in again.

This time the water only reached the tiles at her front entrance, but her next door neighbor wasn’t as lucky, as evident by the water-logged carpet.

Sam said, "Last year the front bedroom flooded four times. And then, in 2012 is when we had the really big flood and it completely flooded. We had water standing in both of these units. But, yes, it's an ongoing issue. It happens every year."

Sam said the problem started seven years ago when the city resurfaced the streets. Now, if the water gets out of the creek bank there will be flooding.

"I wish the city would spend some money to do some type of study because this is a problem," Sam said.

In previous floods she's been able to fix the damage herself, but now she can’t afford it, so she's relying on her landlord and the city.

We reached out to the city, but no one was available for comment.

Other neighbors said the city is aware of the problem and is looking into fixing the drainage problem.