Heavy Rains Raise Questions About Lubbock’s Flood Readiness

Lubbock is not ready for a real rain.

Last Tuesday, Lubbock picked up somewhere between 1-2 inches of rain. Many areas got even less than that, yet the city still turned into a complete mess.

I was out and about around 4:30 p.m., and the standing water was unbelievable. No, it wasn’t exactly time to go fishing at the Office Depot parking lot, but honestly, it wasn’t completely out of the question either. Looking out the window of my truck, the water appeared to be more than six inches deep in spots. Keep in mind, this wasn’t even some violent downpour. It was mostly just a steady light-to-medium rain.

We’ve Seen This Before

The scary part is that we are woefully unprepared for a truly big storm.

We’ve already seen what can happen. As recently as last year, cars were stranded and nearly underwater in parts of town. Go back to 2015 and Lubbock received 4.64 inches of rain, causing major flooding in neighborhoods near the mall area.

These aren’t surprise events anymore. We’ve been given warning signs over and over again, yet nothing ever seems to happen afterward.

What Exactly Is The Storm Water Fee Doing?

At the same time, residents are charged a “storm water fee,” which honestly sounds a little questionable when you look around after even a moderate rainstorm.

The basic idea is that storm water is supposed to follow roads and drainage routes into the playa lakes. The problem is, storm water doesn’t exactly listen to directions. Water pools where it wants to pool, and many streets around town simply cannot handle it.

So people end up paying for what feels less like a true drainage system and more like a “concept of a plan.”

Lubbock’s Flooding Problem Isn’t Going Away

It’s easy to ignore these problems because heavy rain doesn’t happen often here. Ironically, that’s also one of the reasons flooding becomes such a problem when it does happen.

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