HAMPTON, Va. — Neighbors in Hampton's Westview Lakes neighborhood are fed up with flooding and asking for help.
Carla Graves is one of those neighbors. She showed News 3 evidence of the problem on her property.
“I can’t do anything in my yard. When it rains, my shed gets soaking wet. The trees are uprooting and the biggest scare is that one of these trees is going to fall on the top of my house where my bedroom is," Graves explained.
Watch: Chance for rain, multiple systems in Atlantic put spotlight on flooding in Hampton Roads
Neighbors tell News 3 their flooding issues can be traced back to the neighborhood's lakes. They say they need to be dredged and they want the city to help.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to dismiss the people that you work for when it comes to a safety matter," Neighborhood HOA President Fabienne Euphrasie said.
Euphrasie acknowledges the lake is private property owned by the HOA but said the neighborhood developer created the lakes when the neighborhood was built because they were needed to help reduce flooding in surrounding communities.
Watch: Tour highlights planned work to address flooding in historic Hampton Community
“If this is something that was needed by the city, then you should have some co-responsibility on maintaining it," said Euphrasie.
The HOA has also considered filling in the lake, but Euphrasie said the city won’t allow that. A city spokesperson explained to News 3 the city has only advised against filling in the lakes because that would make the flooding worse and encouraged the HOA to check state stormwater codes and guidelines first if they choose to fill it in.
Neighbors tell News 3 the city has long claimed there is no city water coming into the lake, therefore the lake is not the city’s problem.
Watch: Newport News and Hampton tackle flooding issues, families speak out
"This has been going on for 30 years," neighbor Conrado Lord said about the issue with the lakes.
Lord showed News 3 a diagram he said a city engineer gave neighbors during a visit to the lake that shows water is coming into the lake.
"The water is coming in, underground water, it's coming in and it's going into lake 1," Lord said, tracing his finger along a line on the diagram.
Watch: City of Hampton and Army Corps of Engineers study flood risks
So, News 3 asked the city about that.
“What I am being told is that we have no evidence that there is any stormwater running from a city facility or city water that is going into the private property," said Hampton Public Information Officer Mike Holtzclaw.
Holtzclaw said the city is not trying to turn a blind eye to the issue, though.
Watch: Hampton families grateful Rep. Scott secured $1.3M to help reduce flooding
“The city is always sympathetic to it and will cooperate and work with them," Holtzclaw said.
For neighbors, being sympathetic isn’t enough. Linda Carter showed News 3 pictures of how severe the flooding has been around her house.
"I lost a lot of appliances," Carter explained. "We tried to get flood insurance. We were told we weren't in a floodplain."
Watch: News 3's Brendan Ponton talks flooding in Hampton Roads on Coast Live
When the pictures were taken, her husband was able to help with the cleanup. He has since passed away, leaving her helpless if her property floods again.
“It’s very stressful when it rains," Carter said.
A sentiment other neighbors say they share.
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