MIDLAND, Texas — Juan Carrillo has lived off Cottonflat and 117 for 25 years, and he has never seen flooding at his home quite like this. He estimates that he has almost three feet of standing water surrounding his home, and his neighbors are in the same boat.
The difference a few hours can make is huge. Cottonflat and 117 didn't have much standing water the morning after July 4, but the evening was a different story.
"We had a little bit of water, maybe about 4 inches, and then as the morning came up throughout the day it started just rising, rising, rising," Carrillo said. "I went around following around Cottonflat, found out where it was coming in through and it ended up coming through this back field over here, and then I mean this is the outcome of it."
Luis Saenz, who lives just a few houses down from Carrillo, is also dealing with rising waters, though not to the extent that Carrillo is. However, he is still doing what he can to protect his house from flood damage.
"That’s all I got yesterday, just a couple of sandbags," Saenz said. "You know I’m just putting it right there just in case to protect a little bit of my house."
Carrillo is coming to terms with what cannot be saved.
"Probably everything in my shop and in my storage, and then you know I’ve had some chickens drown," Carrillo said. "You know I tried to get them out before but you know I was running around doing everything I could, but yeah with vehicles I don’t know as to the extent."
Neighbors believe that the problem lies on the backside of Carrillo's and Saenz's properties. The land back there is completely flooded as well.
"It was farmland," Carrillo said. "It had a bank and somebody took out that bank and now the water flows freely directly into that pond or farmland and it’s coming around my house and this road flooding everybody else."
They are in the same boat as their neighbors in west Midland County, no flood insurance out here either.
"I don’t think anybody has had flood damages," Carrillo said. "Nobody ever let us know when we bought the property. Nobody ever told us that it was a flood zone. I mean I guess we should’ve asked or checked but you know that it’s never flooded like this you know like I said in 25 years."
All they want is a little help.
"I mean we just need somebody to help us figure out," Carrillo said. "I mean we’re not looking for any reimbursement, property damage, anything. We just want them to help us flow this water out, you know help us get this water flowing the way it should be."
Carrillo has reached out to the county for help on the issue, but he has not had any luck so far.