Image
© Photo: WFAACar under water in Fort Worth
A Flash Flood Warning has expired for Collin County and parts of Denton and Grayson Counties after one to two inches of rain fell over Tarrant and Denton Counties earlier Monday.

Meteorologists expected scattered showers and thunderstorms to hit North Texas overnight. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued for counties in the southern portion of the WFAA viewing area through 11 p.m. Monday, but it was later canceled.

For Celia de la Cruz, these April showers are bringing massive headaches.

"It just comes this way and heads that way; it's just horrible," she said.

De la Cruz was talking about the gushing, rushing water that turned her quiet Fort Worth street into raging rapids on Monday. Her neighbor shot incredible video of the water rushing through backyards and funneling onto Carleton Avenue near Interstate 30 and Hulen Street.


She tried to barricade her fence to keep the water out of her backyard, but was unsuccessful.

"It's shocking that it'll just bust through there," de la Cruz said.

Now her fence is broken, her yard is a mess, and her swimming pool is brown with muddy rainwater (and whatever else was picked up in the alley as the water flowed down).

It all happened Monday morning around 10 a.m., when downpours hit Fort Worth. The gushing waters also ripped up two roads in the area.

On the next street over, city crews were hard at work clearing debris from roads and patching up the holes. It's a road they've been down before.

"It's a real challenge," City Council member Dennis Shingleton observed. "It's heartbreaking."

Shingleton said the city is well aware this area is a flooding target. Exactly one week from now, the city will begin work on a retention basin near Camp Bowie Boulevard that is designed to reduce — but not eradicate — flooding damage in the future.

The project will be at the corner of Western and Bryce Avenues, and is called a "drainage improvement project."

"We can do things to mitigate the damage and mitigate the water, but we can't totally fix it and call it a done deal," Shingleton said.

"It is really scary when it's happening, you know?" de la Cruz said. "I'm not going to lie. It's just awful."