{"id":888,"date":"2021-12-27T17:09:18","date_gmt":"2021-12-27T17:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/?p=888"},"modified":"2021-12-28T18:11:56","modified_gmt":"2021-12-28T18:11:56","slug":"suffolk-is-developing-quickly-when-it-comes-to-flooding-older-neighborhoods-feel-left-behind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/?p=888","title":{"rendered":"Suffolk is developing quickly. When it comes to flooding, older neighborhoods feel left behind."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Photo courtesy of Carolyn White. Pughsville residents blame a lack of infrastructure and maintenance for regular flooding that traps residents and inundates houses.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This story is part of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cAt A Crossroads,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0a WHRO Public Media series exploring how coastal Virginia is dealing with higher waters due to climate change. The project is funded by the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pulitzercenter.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting\u00a0<\/a>as part of its nationwide\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pulitzercenter.org\/connected-coastlines\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Connected Coastlines reporting initiative<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"blob:https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/cc249a33-4c13-4d63-8550-2d0abb8e3d57\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Ryan Murphy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One drizzly afternoon in early November, Carolyn White and Pamela Brandy cruise around in White\u2019s SUV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They can\u2019t wait to start pointing out problem spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overfilled ditches. Standing water. Inadequate pipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Welcome to Pughsville.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Generations ago, freed slaves set up a place to call their own in what was then Nansemond County. Their descendents still live there today, in the neighborhood that straddles the Suffolk\/Chesapeake city line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But they\u2019re worried about how much longer they\u2019ll be here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As climate change makes rainstorms heavier and more frequent, Brandy and White and many of the other long-time Pughsville residents are afraid their neighborhood\u2019s going to get washed away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s the Interstate up there (I-664) so water comes from up from the kind of take down owner because we in the valley, we get water coming from the interstate. We get water coming from Suffolk,\u201d Brandy says, gesturing all around the car. \u201cSo we hold in all this water and water is not moving out&nbsp; because the drainage is up above us.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Census figures show Suffolk\u2019s population has grown eleven-and-a-half percent over the last decade, making it one of the fastest growing communities in Hampton Roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With that comes more building and as developments go up, residents of older neighborhoods feel like they\u2019re being left behind.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Flooding is getting worse, and they say development is partly to blame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pughsville largely doesn\u2019t have stormwater pipes, relying on ditches. All the water pools at the lowest point, where several streets dead-end at the foot of the interstate that looms over the neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A pipe dug beneath the highway by the Virginia Department of Transportation is the only way for water to get out of this part of Pughsville. And it\u2019s clogged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Brandy says when a heavy rain happens, water creeps up those dead-end roads, flooding the homes on the low end of the street, blocking intersections further up and making it difficult for people to get in or out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut when we had that major flood that we had, water came up to this house here and all of this was flooding,\u201d Brandy says, pointing to several homes at the end of the row. \u201cThis house here was underwater.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the topography and the worsening rains are only part of the problem.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What\u2019s more pressing: development happening in and around Pughsville that existing residents say is making things worse for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">White points out several newly-built homes scattered around the old neighborhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don&#8217;t think these two houses were supposed to be put here. But when developers come with money, the city says \u2018OK,\u2019\u201d White says. Just behind a couple of new houses, she said &#8220;all of that is marsh land and water.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When a new house goes in on a lot that was previously grass or woods, suddenly there\u2019s a lot less soft soil and trees to absorb the rain. In its place is a lot more hard surface like roofs and driveways for water to run off of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">White and Brandy said that\u2019s flooding out the immediate neighbors and compounding other problems. They also worry that larger developments around their community are channeling more water into their little valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They complain about a lack of maintenance &#8211; like that blocked up VDOT pipe &#8211; and the failure of the city to invest in stormwater management here in Pughsville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But they said officials are shrugging off their flooding concerns, which is endangering their community and their heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe African-American legacy and our history, they&#8217;re building and removing by all this development that they are doing, and now we won\u2019t have the history and legacy no more,\u201d Brandy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In part, they feel like they\u2019re ignored, or even targeted, because their community is historically Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey building up all this new development over here and they got beautiful curbside drainage and everything, streets and stuff. OK, but you can&#8217;t do nothing in Pughsville?\u201d Brandy said. \u201cWhat&#8217;s the difference, huh? Oh, I forgot. We&#8217;re African-American. Oh, that\u2019s the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBlack and white,\u201d White echoed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2019, they wrote to VDOT telling them their neighborhood was being discriminated against. They said someone from VDOT worked with them for a few months, but told them they didn\u2019t have a claim after a meeting with the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They feel like the city isn\u2019t listening to the existing residents, and instead the needs of new development take precedence over the old neighborhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The city of Suffolk says they are working on Pughsville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Suffolk\u2019s public works director, Robert Lewis, said many of the concerns he\u2019s heard about development are overblown.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He says the larger developments happening throughout the city, including those near Pughsville, are master planned with developer-constructed stormwater systems. He says that means the biggest swaths of development shouldn\u2019t be major contributors to flooding for existing communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But he conceded that infill development &#8211; those scattered houses going up throughout Pughsville &#8211; can cause issues. He said the city\u2019s ability to mitigate is limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat infill property has just as much right to be there and develop a house as those neighbors that have been there for years,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cWe&#8217;re trying to balance so that the property owner can use their rights of their property as they see fit without unduly impacting the folks adjacent to them and downstream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lewis said VDOT is clearing that outfall pipe under the interstate so the water will drain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The city\u2019s rolled out plans for one new stormwater pipe to help get water to that outfall, and a detention pond should help slow the water flow down during heavy rains to limit peak flooding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lewis said once the planned projects are done, they would be a step in the right direction, but solving Pughsville\u2019s flooding problems writ-large will take a lot more work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And the city doesn\u2019t currently have plans for any work beyond what\u2019s on paper now, Lewis said. That could happen in the future, or maybe private developers who are putting up houses in the community will start putting some of that infrastructure in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Community members have said what Suffolk proposed isn\u2019t enough and doesn\u2019t solve&nbsp; many of the problems they\u2019ve communicated to city officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pair from Pughsville say they can\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll of this was flooded that these people back here in the new section couldn&#8217;t get out because there&#8217;s only one way out,\u201d Brandy said. \u201cWe have asked them about getting a way out for people because these people are trapped and they haven&#8217;t came up with an answer on that. And they don&#8217;t care.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As developments go up, residents of older Suffolk neighborhoods feel like they\u2019re being left behind.\u00a0Flooding is getting worse, and they say development is partly to blame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=888"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":917,"href":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888\/revisions\/917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atacrossroads.whro.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}