BARTLETT, Texas — The City of Bartlett's Mayor, Chad Mees, has declared a State of Local Disaster after severe thunderstorms hit the area on Sunday, April 28.
According to the City, the heavy rainfall caused flash flooding, impacting numerous homes, street and businesses around town. In addition, severe wind gusts caused significant property damage.
The City says residents were even helping to remove blockages in the drainage system as five inches of rain reportedly hit the town in a short amount of time.
"We have an older system here so a lot of the drainage is mainly detention based, so ditches of that nature and then just slips within the natural boundaries of the properties," said Mayra Cantu, City Administrator. "Often what happens is when we get that much rain, things start to wash away and then they'll block culverts and then essentially back up a lot of the water on the properties."
The declaration states that the City's emergency management plan is now activated and all available resources will be utilized to recover from this event. Cantu said the City decided to make the declaration mainly to be able to better position them if there is any funding that becomes available.
"For us, it's how can we best position the citizens of Bartlett to be able to seek any funding that they may be able to get," Cantu said. "Also, the city. We have several plans in progress right now, but the more that we can work on the drainage within town -- the better."
Jennifer Tucker, owner of Bartlett Lumber Yard, believes her property took on the brunt of the flooding from Sunday's storms. She said she is needing an immediate fix and doesn't believe the declaration really helps her.
"I still have immediate damages that need to be addressed and my poor tenants have damages that need to be addressed and so although I appreciate that, I need something that's going to take care of things immediately," Tucker said.
Tucker shared videos of her property during the peak of the flash flooding that showed water rising way past the culverts and creeping in on the cabins. Tucker said all three of the back cabins were at least three inches underwater.
"All three of them have to be completely redone, drywall is going to need to be replaced, the flooring is going to have to be replaced," Tucker said. "We're in the process of assessing appliances, and just the level of the damage that was done."
The Bartlett business owner and citizen is just hopeful and focused on bringing the Bartlett Lumber Yard back to being functional.
"Being able to put everything back together and make this a place where the community can come back to is important for us," Tucker added.
To view the entire declaration, visit here.
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