CANUTILLO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — Saturday’s storms left parts of Canutillo underwater, and days later some residents along Selva Drive said they were still dealing with the damage and worried about what could happen when the next round of storms arrives.
Norma Venzor said floodwaters quickly rose on her property during Saturday’s storm.
“I started seeing the water flowing down. And it just kept getting higher and higher and higher. And then I realized I needed to check on the animals,” Venzor said.
She said her dog was nearly submerged — “You can only see her head” — and that “We lost one chicken.”
In the days after the storm, she walked through areas that had been inundated, including where she said her chickens were kept.
“Down there was flooded too; that's where we had the chickens,” Venzor said.
Emily Schmalz reports on Canutillo family still cleaning up after floods leave sinkholes and damage near Selva Dr. (Credit: KFOX14)
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She described how the water receded but left behind significant damage.
Venzor said the flooding pushed water into her daughter’s home, created sinkholes and damaged their property.
She said neighbors have been working to fill the sinkholes and clean up ahead of future storms.
“If it wasn’t for the neighbors and the tractors and the sand that people have brought to us, we would have multiple sinkholes,” Venzor said.
Venzor said she injured her ankle after falling into one of the sinkholes.
“I didn’t know there was a sinkhole. So when I walked, I walked right into the sinkhole; my whole body was completely in the water,” she said.
She believes the sinkholes formed because of soft sand around new sewer lines El Paso Water is installing.
El Paso Water was asked about the project and whether changes could be made to help prevent similar problems during future monsoon storms.
The utility said it was working on the request.
Venzor said the flooding brought back memories of the 2006 monsoon floods and raised questions about why more protections are not in place.
“It was like a replica. It was the same thing all over again,” she said.
“I mean, if there’s still money from the 2006 flood bond. Why has nothing been done in this area?”
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Venzor said she feels residents have been left to handle cleanup on their own.
"It’s us as neighbors we’re the ones having to do the work, and I don't understand why it's us that have to do the work,” she said.
Venzor said she wants more action to protect the area, adding, “They need to really do a flood reservoir out here for all of us.”
El Paso County officials were also contacted about plans to reduce future flooding in the area, but they are working on that request.
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