Jacksonville resident asks the authorities for assistance after his garden keeps flooding

Jacksonville, Arkansas – Every time it rains, a Jacksonville homeowner’s backyard turns into a swamp, so he phoned the city for assistance. But more than two months later, he still hasn’t heard back.

Vietnam veteran Samuel White, who retired six months ago, didn’t know an underground drainage conduit had been installed in front of his house. He didn’t learn until his backyard flooded.

It turns out that the culvert for that conduit simply happens to halt in his backyard.

“Water was just pouring out of it as if someone was pumping it – so then I went around to see where the water is coming from and I saw where they had put a conduit under the ground all the way to in here and just let it dump in here,” White explained.

He claimed that the culvert was not disclosed to him when he purchased the house. He said that his realtor was also unaware of the culvert.

“This yard is inhabitable. Oh, terrible, considering what these homes cost,” he said.

White had a conversation with a city employee from the roadway and drainage division.

“He said he would look into it. The first thing he said was, well we didn’t do that, the developers did that,” said White. “I said ‘well, someone had to sign it off, I’m sure you don’t just let developers come in and do whatever they don’t want to do and leave’.”

He has been waiting for answers for months, and in the meantime, his property keeps flooding.

“He said I’ll get back with you, but he never did and I kept calling, he was always either off that day or he was out of the office,” White added.

Adam Whitlow, the city’s engineer and director of public works, stated that they are investigating the situation. He acknowledged that there is no simple solution, but they intend to measure heights to see what may be done within the city’s easement.