Kathy Lewis cried in her living room as she looked out the window at the rising water while her 10-year-old daughter, Jennifer, put together a sticker book to pass the time.
The residents of four homes on Hoyt Street were faced with several unanswered questions as they watched the water level rise in their garages, sheds and crawl spaces fearing the water would soon flood their homes.
"I keep getting, 'It's not our problem, you need to talk to somebody else,'" Lewis said. "I would then call that person and they would say, 'I don't know why you would call me, it's not my deal out there.'"
A 13-acre drainage pond sits behind the homes with an underground tunnel for the water to flow, said Kathy's husband Eric Lewis. The flow of the water gets backed up if the tunnel is not maintained.
Delia Conaster said County Commissioner Larry Crouch made his way out to the water-surrounded lots and said he would send an investigator, but the investigator has yet to arrive.
Crouch was unavailable at press time.
"The water has flooded three times since the Fourth of July but never this bad," Eric said. The 38-year resident said he had been up since dawn pumping the water out of his yard and crawl space with generators donated by friends. Some spots were as deep as 5 feet.
"Looking down into the floor registers; the water is only about 3 inches from entering the house," Eric said.
He said he hoped the county would close the road in order to save their home.
"The county has been out here, they've looked at the drainage pond, and they know that there's a problem, but they haven't dealt with it," Lewis said.
Kathy said she called the county surveyor and commissioner.
She said a couple of people came to see their situation, but Kathy kept getting the same response.
"They wait until it's like this, and then they don't do anything," she said. Kathy said the town kept "passing the buck" to other people.
"I realize everyone has a problem with the water, but our problem could be solved, and it's not," Kathy said.
Kathy said neighbors donated money to keep the gas running in the generator motors to remove the water. In five hours about eight gallons of gas were used.
The Lewis' garage was floating with clothes, papers and tubs.
"I can't really blame it on everybody, but I wish there was someone who would take the initiative to do something," Kathy said. "It's just getting someone to respond."
Virgil Ozbun stood on the top step of his front porch, which was just an inch shy of touching water, and stared at his truck, car, motor home and boat, all surrounded by water.
"Over the years we have fought this thing," Ozbun said. "I'm 78 years old and don't have that many more years to worry about it."
Ozbun said about 20 years ago the builders put an 18-inch plastic pipe in from the retention pond.
"They need to enlarge the hole under the culvert, then the water would take its natural flow over the field," he said.
Ozbun said the owners, Atland Construction, said they would look into the problem in 2000.
"He (Tony Franklin) said he had intentions of putting in a 5-foot pipe to help the flow," Ozbun said.
Ozbun said the screen covering the drainage tunnel has not been maintained.
Boyd Franklin, president of Atland Construction, said they are not responsible for the flooding problem.
"Thornberg (Richard Thornberg, county surveyor) is in charge of the retention," president of Atland Construction Boyd Franklin said.
Thornberg was unable to be reached for comment at press time.
"Atland Construction has nothing to do with it," Franklin said. "We don't maintain it."
Ozbun said that he felt like the situation would not be changed.
"Maybe if some of the board members lived out here, things would get changed," Ozbun said.
One resident, Jim Huddleston, just made his first mortgage payment to his home after moving in two months ago with his fiancee, Karen Dyer. Although Huddleston's crawl space is flooded, he continues to fight the rain with sandbags to keep his home dry.
Huddleston said he knew about the pond before he moved. Since Monday, he missed work and rented a drainage system that costs $100 a day.
"Supposedly when the water level gets so high, it's supposed to go in the drain," Huddleston said.
The drain, because it is not maintained, is blocked by debris.
"I don't know if it belongs to the county or if it's privately owned," Huddleston said.
Huddleston too said he was given the run-around when he was looking for help and came to the same roadblocks as the Lewises.
"I am going to start attending these meetings and find out who owns this," Huddleston said. He said he was unsure of the damage to his shed.
"This is county drainage; there is something not right here," Huddleston said. "I'm not going to let this beat me. They will get to know my face on a first-name basis."
Legal action was an idea that each neighbor has considered.
"We're Christian people, and we don't believe in suing people without a good cause, but I don't believe in letting people run over me either," Conaster said. "This is going to cost us, and we didn't do it."
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