Can Anything Be Done About Lubbock Flooding?

The answer is no. Now, let's work backwards.

I believe the area by Lake Leroy Elmore has been flooding since I moved up to Lubbock in around 1981. This includes the lake washing over Quaker Ave., The Loop access road and I think even the houses over there. Then, a Walmart was built across the street and it floods over there, too.

My best guest is that they just didn't worry about rain/water in the old days. Maybe some of you can correct me, but I just don't remember big turtle-floating rains like we've had in the last few years.

The prevailing Lubbock attitude about snow and rain is: 'It only does this once in a while, so why worry about it?'

Well, because people can drown, freeze to death and have their property ruined. Those are some pretty good reasons to worry about the weather.

The question is, how do you go back and put in storm drains where there are none? The answer is, that you really can't. We are painted into a corner here, and if the weather continues to bring us these big events we're just going to have to suffer the damage.

It's going to be tough to get a complete total on the damage from last Wednesday's rains. Lubbock has been proclaimed a disaster area, the South Plains Mall is flooded, homes are flooded, cars are stranded and then there's people like me who had a few hundred dollars worth of stuff soaked in their garages that will never be reported.

Lubbock is just unprepared for these type of weather events, and there's really nothing that can be done about it.