Mercedes resident Luis Solis says he saw close to 10 inches of flood water inside his home during Hurricane Hanna

Now, his biggest concern is a nearby detention - pond facility that may over flow into his home once again.

"We [had] a detention pond built - they started building it in 2018 and it was supposed to take care of the flooding problem,” Solis said of the detention pond sitting between Mile 2 1/2 and Mile 9 in rural Mercedes. “But instead of letting our water come out of our neighborhood into the retention pond, after it gets full it comes back out."

Solis' children are all staying at his mother’s house as they’re already experiencing issues like a flooded and a non-working septic tank and an unstable foundation with water near the door step

Hidalgo County Precinct 1 Commissioner David Fuentes said crews are working on cleaning up the detention area.

"We have been working really hard on cleaning up that detention area,” Fuentes said. “We want to make sure we create capacity, basically all the water that was in the neighborhoods of the La Chapa, Las Brisas area [were] displaced…into that detention facility. So the fact that it's full is a good thing because that could have been water that ended up in people’s homes."

Fuentes said the water from the detention facility flows toward the east before ending up in the IBWC floodway. 

He said there are plans to add more detention facilities in the area.

WEATHER COVERAGE:
July 8, 2021: Flash Flood Watch for RGV extended through Friday evening
Flooding in La Blanca sparks concern among residents
Water in Edinburg neighborhood rising from canal overflow
Mid-Valley residents continue to struggle with flooding
Santa Rosa residents struggle with floodwater after heavy rainfall