by Adam Ghassemi
HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. – Pamela Gentry likes the idea of living on an island, but when flood water makes her home on Savely Court one she quickly loses interest.
"Not like that," she joked Monday.
Last week nearly all the homes on her street had water in their crawl spaces and within inches of coming inside. It's the 4th time it's happened in the last three years according to neighbors.
"The foundation, the lining, the duct work, the insulation, my central heat and air unit. Property has floated away," Gentry said.
When the water came up so quickly it ruined nearly everything in garages and sheds. Monday neighbors had pictures and memories outside drying in the sun.
"It's just a wreck," neighbor Patricia Howell said.
Gentry believes as the city has grown-up around them the drainage system hasn't. That means lots of water during heavy rains ends up here.
"I just think it's been rerouted somehow to here," Gentry went on to say.
Hendersonville Public Works Director Jerry Horton says they keep a list of drainage projects they need to address and Gentry's neighborhood tops the list. Horton says most of the problem comes from nearby railroad tracks that pre-date the neighborhood and block water from draining.
Crews could start work to fix it in the next 3 months by adding culverts under the tracks as well as cleaning up other parts of the creek, Horton said.
The projects will cost the city roughly $600,000.
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