EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Residents in Socorro are in a perpetual state of preparing for the next wave of storms and repairing the damage from the last one. All concerns about the upheaval a large storm can cause to them, their lives and their properties.

The runoff is coming from rainfall landing on communities just north of Interstate 10 and into two arroyos on Coker Road. Pablo Acosta, a Socorro resident, said he’s afraid of what comes next with a tropical storm in the forecast.

Pablo Acosta, a Socorro resident, calling on leaders from the City of Socorro and El Paso County to address flooding concerns. Photo taken by Aaron Montes/KTSM

“If you get very hard rain, we get real bad flooding and I don’t know if my berm is going to hold,” Acosta said.

Acosta’s home sits at the top of a hill and uses his own heavy machinery to move tons of dirt to protect his property and neighbors. For the last several days, residents used their own equipment and vehicles to prepare their properties for more rain.

Socorro neighbors using their own equipment to protect homes, properties from potential flooding. Photo taken by Aaron Montes/KTSM

Last week, Socorro experienced multiple floods and closed roads due to heavy rainfall. Acosta said that over the years, he’s reached out to leaders from the City of Socorro and El Paso County, but no solutions have come from the discussions.


‘They want the arroyos to wash us out’: Socorro families plead for flood relief

“We need the government to do something about it. This is not a resident’s problem. This is not a one-man job to be fighting against the water by himself,” Acosta said.

Acosta and his neighbor, Pedro Murillo, are among the last residents of the Coker community. Acosta and Murillo gave KTSM 9 News crews a walk through the neighborhood and showed homes buried by dirt from previous storms and one resident’s utility pole brought to the ground by a storm last week.

Socorro neighborhood buried in dirt from previous flood incidents. Photo taken by Aaron Montes/KTSM

“Luckily, I still have power, but it’s on the ground. It’s very dangerous. I don’t have money, that kind of money, to go through this. Somebody’s going to try to help me to put a new pole,” Murillo said.

The community is calling on the local and state officials to take more immediate action to protext them and their properties.