One Port Arthur resident has a reason to why the city flooded so badly from Tropical Storm Harvey.

Greg Richard, an engineer by trade, asked why Mid-County cities are allowed to drain water through the Port Arthur city limits. Richard spoke before the regular meeting of the Port Arthur City Council on Oct. 10.

“Knowledge is power,” he said. “Why did they rush water into an inundated community? Those who flooded next to Mid-County, that was not our water. What will do in the future? Would Mid-County allows us to flow ours through their cities?”

Richard said the Mid-County side of FM 365 is higher than the Port Arthur side. He said some are calling the flood an act of God, but Port Arthur still received five feet of floodwater because Port Arthur had to accommodate Mid-County water.

“What if we block their canals? They’re on our property. Nobody is talking about that,” he said. “Phil Kelley (Jefferson County Drainage District 7 general manager) doesn’t have a job description. There’s been no preventive maintenance for years. We have a preacher and a basketball coach representing us (on the board of directors). Why not file a lawsuit?

“We’re subsidizing them with our taxes to keep them dry while ours floods.”

Harold Doucet Sr., District 4 councilman, asked if water flowed down to Port Arthur in which the answer was yes. He then asked if DD7 will look at the drainage.

“It’s been a long time since they’ve been designed. There’s been a lot of growth and economic development over the years,” Doucet said. “We need to look at drainage flow from other places. The pump stations in Port Neches and Nederland push their water into the Neches River. Our drainage system is old and outdated. We need to sit down at the table.”

Armando Gutierrez, director of public works, said drainage is a top priority for his department and they will review this year.

Richard said Port Arthur takes more risks than Mid-County while “they’re sitting in dry homes.”

“They’re biased for Mid-County,” he said.

Willie “Bae” Lewis, District 5 councilman, said after something floods, DD7 needs to reroute the water.

“I heard horror stories about Lakeside addition,” he said. “When we get grants for this we need to alternate and elevate the pumps and do something differently. Unfortunately, the money becomes available after a catastrophe. Hopefully we won’t see this again.”

Lewis added the problem is fixable. Though the rain was an act of God, the pumps can limit damage.

Gutierrez said remediation money can be used for improvements.

Mayor Derrick Freeman said as part of hazard mitigation, natural gas lines can be ran to the pumps instead of relying on fuel trucks that may become stalled. Pumps can also be raised and solar panels used so they can run around the clock.

He added that Mid-County is one-foot higher than Port Arthur and water flows downward.

Richard said the canals south of FM 365 need to be dredged.