FAIRHOPE, Ala. (WPMI) — “The first time it rained after they mowed down the trees I started getting this flood. And it’s flooded ever since, every time it rains.”
It looks like an innocent little stream flowing through an upscale Point Clear neighborhood.
But that was this evening.
A few hours earlier, a 45 minute downpour turning this tributary of Point Clear Creek into a muddy mess.
And Mary Blackwood knew that’s exactly what was going to happen.
“The first time it rained after they mowed down the trees I started getting this flood. And it’s flooded ever since, every time it rains.”
She says she expected this.
“I knew there’d be a problem.”
Mary knew it, because she’s seen this before.
“Well, it was a few months ago when they started bulldozing the trees behind my house. And after the got that done and they kept bulldozing… when it would rain, which we know it really rains when it rains here. And when ti would rain, it would cause a flood in my back yard. And not just a little bit, but all the way up to them, to the patio. I mean it was just terrible.”
And she’s not the only homeowner to deal with this rain-related runoff in this part of the sprawling Battle Trace subdivision.
Dianne Dyer is dealing with it, too.
“We have seen what we have consistently seen every time it rains,” says Dianne, “which is massive flooding, and it just runs down through our subdivision and then through our overflow pond that’s supposed to catch everything, the lake, and then on into Mobile Bay.”
Why all of the construction?
Because this subdivision is still growing, as land is cleared for Phase 9 of Battle Trace, which just happened to be located next to Mary and Dianne’s street.
What used to be a heavily wooded area behind their homes, compete with trees and critters that live in them, is now a naked berm.
“We used to have cardinals and hummingbirds, and I still have bird feeders out, and I don’t ever have any birds., she says. “It’s really sad. It’s a sad thing.”
The land is being developed by Retirement Systems of Alabama.
On Wednesday, a man representing the company building the subdivision talked with homeowners as workers tried to clear clogged construction drains.
But these homeowners say the problem goes beyond the flooding… claiming they were promised larger trees on the site would be preserved.
What would they like to see happen?
“I would like to see them get through,” says Mary. “I would like to see them finish this berm, landscape it the way we would like to see it be landscaped, to be heavily landscaped like the older part of the colony.”
“I know it’s going to take some time and years for it to grow,” offers Dianne, “but… you’ve got to get started and get those trees planted, to get those shrubs and bushes planted to make it happen, to get them mature.”
Both women say these development problems are poised to become a campaign issue in the upcoming Fairhope municpal elections.
That election is August 26th.
Thanks to Dillon Gosnay for sharing his Facebook video post with us.
https://www.facebook.com/100047215476323/videos/pcb.2040571003016747/1061883882679651
https://www.facebook.com/100047215476323/videos/pcb.2040571003016747/640705598497168