BEAUMONT, Texas — Jefferson County Drainage District 6 leaders will be hosting a meeting soon to gather input from the community.
They want to know what should be done to protect neighborhoods from flooding, which is a big problem in Southeast Texas.
This meeting will take place Tuesday, October 25th at 5:30 p.m. at the Beaumont Event Centre.
This gathering will happen ahead of a regional drainage study.
Homeowners in Beaumont say water from a drainage ditch flooded their homes during Hurricane Harvey and Imelda. They want something to be done before the next big storm.
"When Harvey came, my house got nine inches but everyone in the neighborhood got up to six feet and it was bad," one homeowner said.
Naomi Carter says in a matter of three years, her neighborhood was flooded twice.
"It was just unbelievable and so we're always you know a little nervous when it starts to rain," Carter said.
DD6 leaders want to find out what other areas have experienced bad flooding, which is why they're launching a regional drainage study.
"We're analyzing the drainage patterns of a large area which includes the Pine Allen Bayou Watershed and Hillebrandt Watershed," said District Engineer, Doug Canant.
At Tuesday's meeting, residents can talk to engineers and see what's already been done to improve drainage.
DD6 leaders more than anything, want feedback from the community.
"We want their input on this you know we don't want to just kind of do this in our own little engineer box because we don't have all these experiences we just do the best we can and that's why we really want people to show up," Canant said.
Carter plans to attend the meeting, especially after spending 40 years in her home with no flooding.
During Harvey and Imelda, she lost five cars and had four feet of standing water inside her home.
"We couldn't see the pool as a matter of fact the table was covered we couldn't see the table," Carter said.
Carol Dixon says she plans to attend as well.
"I notice that now even on the street, the water settles right in front of my home so that's kind of scary," Dixon said.
"Before I can raise concern or issues I would like to see what all they've did and then from there I would be able to ask questions," Carter said.
Canant says once they've complied all the feedback and information they've learned from this meeting, they hope to use $8.5 million to better improve drainage in all areas located in this regional study.