HAMPTON, Va. — Hampton Roads faced flash-flood warnings with Thursday's stormy weather.
Neighbors in Hampton called us saying their floodwaters were so high, that cars were practically floating away. When we got there, we saw they were right: floodwater on the street was knee-high around noon.
To provide context, in Westview Lakes there are 310 homes and the neighbors are close, because they are all dealing with a soggy situation together.
“The neighbors called me. [In] eight minutes, this whole road has been flooded,” said Catherine Bennett. She said the flooding here is costing them.
Now her son’s car won’t start, like many others.
“You see these two cars which I really feel bad, because they have a Mercedes and an Audi down there. That’s going to cost some money,” said Bennett.
“It’s crazy,” said neighbor, Latrice Hawkins.
Hawkins said the flooded streets and cars aren’t the only issues.
“I had damage inside the house that gets in my garage like it is now,” she said.
The flooding along this street narrows down to one issue. “There’s poor drainage down there,” said neighbor Krystopher Douglas.
By down there, he means three retention ponds.
The Homeowners Association President, Charles McEachin, explains the City of Hampton has an easement inside the ponds and most of those have eroded. Plus, he said Westview Lakes gets the drainage from the easements of Virginia Natural Gas and Dominion Power, as well as the surrounding neighborhoods.
“It’s really frustrating because I live in the neighborhood. I see people every day. They know me, I know that and I have no answers,” said McEachin.
McEachin said he’s in talks with Hampton city officials, to help fix the flooding issue, but neighbors are tired of having damage to their property most every time it rains.