It could be called the boulevard of broken dreams - residents of the Jane Usher Boulevard have had to battle with flood conditions on an almost chronic basis. True, many homes sit smack in the middle of swampland but all residents have to wear rubber boots or navigate knotted webs of "London bridges;" there are those areas that have not been hemmed in by flood waters. At least not until now: a number of residents who live on J.C. Street just off the early part of Jane Usher Boulevard have been suddenly swamped - and called us in to investigate:
Alfonso Noble reporting,
Alfonso Noble
Residents have traced the lake-like condition to the opening of a new street in the area. They say the filling that has gone into this road has effectively cut across a natural waterway that served as a drainage basin for the area.
Karen Flores, J.C. Street Resident
About two months now, or more than two months now because before the water got a little flooded but not that much but the water drained out. But then again the rains come and it got stuck. So, it just stayed there so right now we are in that problem. The water is getting stuck in our yard because of all the rains and before there was a canal, a passageway where the water could flow out. But recently because they had built the street at the end, the water has been backing off so it has gotten stuck around here. So right now we are about six to eight inches of water which is knee deep and also it has caused us another problem because our septic back here has been overflowing. So that causes more pestilence in the water and the water has had a bad smell now.
Diana Videz, J.C. Street Resident
As the government said that deh wah help the people back ya fi give sand, deh only give me two load, and deh promise me deh wah give me 'bout six, and ah only get two instead. And that, the two load neva do it sufficient, you know, e neva do it sufficient. So it wah get full over and over as long as da creek deh back there. And e rain and e rain so we wa have to walk through it like this, always. And I put some palette and I need to get some more palette because we still can't walk through the water as yet.
Alfonso Noble
Now, with the constant headache of having to wade through knee deep water all the residents can do is plead to authorities to come up with a solution to the problem that has them living on an island-home in a deplorable environment.
Diana Videz
I have to keep them inside and I have to keep the house clean inside, you know, I can't bring them outside. Because even the stench of the water you smell it through the window, and through the bathroom, the room, and the kitchen you smell the stench from the water so we have to keep it closed constantly, especially at night.
Karen Flores
You have worms, you have bugs, you have fish and everything and sometimes in the days you can see snakes and crabs walking in the water. Right now they are just not out but around the evening to night time they come out and that's when the water gets bad. Mosquitos mostly come out during this time and that's when the water smells the worst. If we get more sand at least, at least we can get more sand to cover up this because we already got some but that was not enough. Right now, it is still not enough, we need more or find some way else to find a passageway to take out the water somehow in any direction, to take it out. So, we do not want this.
Recently the Port Loyola area, specifically around the Jane Usher Boulevard has seen the opening of a number of streets.